THERESA! 4 U 2 C ONLY!

A true fact about me... I am a pack rat.

I try to fight it, but I find it very hard to get rid of anything if there is any sentimental value. 

Want an example? A giant boxes of notes from grade school & high school.

So how can I fight my hoarding tendency and finally get rid of this box? 

After much deliberation, I decided I would read each note, reflect on it... 

and then share those thoughts. So here we go!

First note I pulled from the box was from grade school. 

It was a list about me, but in someone else's handwriting. 

Here are the 9 things they used to describe me:

1. Soccer (Yes, I did play soccer for a year in grade school... so this is probably a note from grade 7)

2. Backstreet Boys (No explanation needed)

3. St. Rose (the school I went to!)

4. Dawson's Creek (Joey and Pacey? Joey and Dawson? It was a rollercoaster of emotions!)

5. Titanic (This one must be related to my love for Leo...)

6. 1 Older Brother & 1 Older Sister (accurate)

7. Go to the park (A request or a statement? Either way it seems legit)

8. 16 year old dog (Blackie!!!)

9. Camping (some things never change)

My letter writing started at a young age. My penpals included friends who moved to different cities and cousins I spent summers with at the pinery. 

Oh yes, Danielle, Kellie, Angela, Alicia and I discussed very personal and hard hitting topics.

The worst part is... she won't find out how I really feel about lasagna for over a month.

Danielle, my longest penpal and I, really seem to have it rough. Richard called me a slut but Dani had my back. She dated 3 guys in one day but justifies it well - she didn't really like any of them! We commiserate about our trying teen lives, our dislike of pogs and all of our best friend drama. Dani offers to be my best friend, and reminds me that kitties always cheer her up!

Kellie's letters were adorable. Always on the cutest stationary, and the early ones included drawings of the two of us at the Pinery. 

This note is great, I completely forgot about Nano Pets!

We begin to transition to typing out our notes & Kellie falls in love with the font “Courier”

I truly loved writing notes... I would even write them to the kids I babysat. 

I believe this was a note with Nicole.

There is quite the collection from my first "boyfriend” named Steve. I met him at the Pinery of course. Steve was from Hamilton, had a friend named Mike, wore red shorts and loved the Simpsons... pretty much all I remember about him. 

The first note I found from the 'Steve Collection' was a threatening letter from Mike addressed to a guy I liked in my grade. Threatening him to stay away from me, with many politically incorrect insults (which I felt the need to edit out). The second note I found had a picture of Steve, which is now creepy because he looks 10 years old & is wearing only a bathing suit... but it did include a pretty great love note.

Second boyfriend... I am pretty sure all the notes from him were actually written by a friend of his who liked playing matchmaker. Why do I think that? Once I told my boyfriend how sweet his letter was, and his reply was “I did not write you a letter.” Fool in love.

Kirsten used to live down the street from me and then moved to Ohio. We tried to keep the friendship alive through letters, and she proved she was still Canadian by using "eh" a lot.

There were definite themes to the notes. 

In grade school the formidable question was: 

Who is your best friend? We used this status to torture each other and it worked. 

By high school, the themes changed a bit:

-Boredom and getting in trouble in class because we are talking too much or passing notes (no surprise there).

-What should we wear? 

-Who hates who?

-BOYS! 

One boy in particular was the topic of SO many notes. Three of us obsessed over him and fought about him A LOT.

Also... how do I get my boyfriend to talk to me? Who will we go to Semi with? Many lists of the boys we thought were hot.

And apparently we all read each other's notes, which was the WORST thing ever if a girl did it to a girl, but something to be expected if a girl did it to a guy.

Shannon was always really supportive and enthusiastic about the events going on, Semi, going to the mall .. and she always had to pee and the teacher wouldn't let her leave class. And she wrote me the sweetest note after my dog passed away.

This is a hilarious note from Sarah T... Who says girls are dramatic?

Another great one from Sarah T... her shock while watching “Clash of the Titans” in class:

Ashley and I... now that is a best friend saga for the ages. Our notes were dramatic and heart wrenching. The notes were often covered in tear stains, with threats of finding a new best friend, capitalized lines, many PS, PSS, PSSS' and so much boy drama. Seriously... we needed a smack. 

FYI... I was Girl 1 and I did go out with him. 

We went to semi together but I got grounded and wasn't allowed to go to the after party. He met an old friend of mine at the after party and they started dating.

Karma.

I found a few notes from Ashley, and one from Emilee, where they pointed out some of my personality flaws and asked me to change some behaviours to better our friendship... and I am sure instead of listening to my friends needs, I simply went on the defence and ignored them. (Listening and reflexing... skills that take a LOT of maturity... which I definitely didn't have back then but am happy to say I am working hard to develop now... thank you meditation!)

And here's a note where I tell Ashley how much I love her... proving I'm not the best at telling people how I feel... since I still have this note!

And this is what we did at sleepovers apparently...

More talk of semi... I ask Becky, Freddy & Eric S if they will attend.

Letters that my sister slipped under my door after a big fight... telling me she really does love me :)

My sis did many sweet things... like buy me candy grams and send me random acts of kindness...

But my sis also made me do her dirty work... as our cousin Alli can attest to. 

Luckily, none of us remember what what we were so upset about. 

I should note that I did learn how to spell apologize and Alli did write back :)

Emily and Jen were my oldest friends... their notes were the sweetest and most supportive.

Sarah L and I have common themes. Call me. Come over and watch Dawson's Creek. Dudes. Semi. Planning mall dates. Disapproving of each other, but not giving a crap. Sarah's notes are by far the goofiest, funniest notes in the bunch.

Sarah has a cigarette in her closet... just in case.

I don't know what I had planned that night! But it sounds like trouble!

A great play by play...

And finally... my favourite part of Sarah's notes:

I am also SUPER pushy with guys. I try to force them into telling me who they like. I really seem to like being a matchmaker. I am not subtle... or polite for that matter.

And I swear I did not think I was flirting at the time I wrote this note... 

(Note: I never should have told Chris about the saleswoman who said I was short and stocky when I was trying on my high school uniform. I was dubbed George Constanza.)

But how could we not be boy crazy?? They were the sweetest!

Of all the notes I didn't give people (which were quite a few!)... 

I thank the heavens I did not give this one to the boy of my affection. 

I love that I underlined love... really wanted to hit him over the head with my 'crazy' obsession.

I was excited to see what Meaghan was going to tell me in this note... 

Turns out she was going to the mall with Ryan. That was the best dirt in there :)

I'm not sure who this one is from... but I am in for it. I am thinking it was from Eric L... 

This one was a great find... I was so curious what was inside... and what I found did not disappoint.

And a valentine from Katie to wrap it up... (pun intended)

Reading all of these notes was truly a weird experience. I had moments of shame, joy and confusion. I was shocked by some of the things we wrote... I have told Ashley I love her a few times since opening these notes and apologized for the unnecessary and cruel drama. I have looked for many of these people on facebook and reached out to a few of them to say hello and wish them well.

 There were so many notes not included in this post... from Erin, Maighan, Maureen, Kristin, Tenecia, Jackie, Becky, Jamie, Brittany & Andrea (who was wise beyond her years)... 

I have to say, I found so much joy in the fact that I recognized everyone's handwriting. I knew before opening a note it was from Sarah or Ashley. Handwritten notes are a thing of the past now, but I feel blessed it was part of my high school days...

So what did I learn from reading these notes?

Don't take things too seriously and work hard to be kind.

I have very little recollection of any of these notes; very small recollection of how upset or hurt I was, how angry I was, or truthfully how ruthless I was. If I could do it all again, I hope I would be a better friend, a more peaceful person and perhaps a less obsessive person.
But it was high school! And thank goodness... we grow and mature.

I am certain we did care about each other, we just had a weird way to show each other love.

xoxo all my penpals,

theresa, tree, peetree, tt