Letters

In the past 12 months I have received two very notable letters. The first was an email from a very close friend who was being the most hurtful, unsupportive person in the world. I had the unfortunate coincidence of being on the same highway as a drunk driver. Having never had anything more than a parking ticket in the 9 years I have been driving, finding myself facing a cement median and my airbags deploying was quite shocking. My body will never completely recover from the muscle damage I suffered as a result of the impact. The responding officer could see where I had been hit (from behind) and was very helpful. When he couldn't find my license I told him the number from memory. I was crying non-stop, but I had my wits about me. Needless to say, my former best friend came to pick me up. Though no one else shared her opinion, she decided that I was driving drunk. Assumptions can be very dangerous, and they definitely caused an irreparable break in our friendship. Within 24 hours of the most horrific experience of my life I was being accused of having brought this trauma upon myself. The clincher is that this person knows better considering she has a master's degree in psychology! Needless to say, I didn't take the accusations well. Coupled with all the other strange assumptions that came along with drunk driving were dating men double my age, and having a drug problem...what?!? I saved the email and my response to remind myself what exactly occurred. Since I deeply believe that every negative eventually begets a positive, I found a certain irony when last weekend I was given another note. My boyfriend (yay! Chuck is officially a boyfriend!) wrote me a poem. He explained how deeply he cares for me, and that he feels close to me even though we haven't known each other so long. I felt special to have had the opportunity to receive something meant just for me, in a good way. The shot to the chest I had 8 months ago with my former best friend's email was quickly filled with a warm feeling once I read Chuck's letter.