Page 4 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
Anders,
I like that name. Is it Dutch? Like Anderson? It’s not super common. Not like Grace, anyway.
I looked up the rules and I can send you cookies as long as I address them specifically to you and know you. This counts, right? You gave me your name. I included lemon and orange sugar cookies. I’m sure they aren’t as good as your grandma’s, but they are a favorite of mine to make. The smell when they are baking is divine. So fresh and warm and sweet. I hope they make the trip and don’t crumble to dust. Although, I supposed lemon-flavored sugar cookie dust is better than the dust around you, wherever you are.
I know it’s a little odd to have a unicorn stamp as a grown woman. I know it’s even weirder to color it in. My mother says I should have gotten rid of it years ago and that she regrets ever even letting me keep it when I went through my unicorn phase as a girl. Bill doesn’t even know about it, but I don’t think he pays much attention to my stamp collection, anyway. I just can’t bring myself to part with it. It was a burst of silliness when I chose it. I was having a terrible day when I wrote you the first time. I wanted to cheer up and have something that made me happy. I was hoping it would make whoever received it happy, too.
I missed the bake-off. I thought of doing the Labor Day weekend bake-off, but Bill wanted to spend time with his family at the beach, so we did that instead. Maybe I’ll enter another one in the future. There’s one every season and two if there’s a holiday. Perhaps I’ll do it when we get to Thanksgiving. The lemon and orange sugar cookies with some cranberry would begood then, I think. Or maybe a pie to commemorate the season.
Will you still be deployed by then? I don’t know how this works. Can you even tell me that? Can you tell me what it’s like there? Wherever you are. Is it hot? I’m imagining a desert and dust everywhere. Do you live in a tent? Would you rather not talk about all that? I realize that this is all very insensitive to me to ask and maybe I should throw the whole letter out and write a new one instead.
Bill is very upset. Our football team hasn’t been doing quite as well as he expected this year. It’s still just the beginning of the season, only a few games in. It’s high school and I get that everyone loves high school football, but he seems too angry about it. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding something. I always misunderstand Bill, at least, that’s what he tells me. I hope the season turns around for them so the games are a little more enjoyable. I do like the marching band, though. They seem so serious, but like they have so much fun with what they do. The music makes me want to get up and dance so much sometimes. I think everyone would stare if I did, though. I guess I’ll just keep dancing in my mind.
I tried to bring up being prepared for an emergency with the committee at church again. They didn’t listen. I don’t think they ever will. The pastor’s wife, Kaye, gave me a look like I had grown two heads when I brought it up. I don’t think she likes me very much.
I bought some big flashlights when I went to the grocery store the other day. Honestly, it was a bit thrilling. I don’t know why I have lived my whole life somewhere with natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes and never had these kinds of things. What else should I get? I don’t really know about any of that, but the more I think about it, the more I think it’s right. I don’t think my church means anything by it, but as great as the bible is, how can we read it in the dark while we starve?
Enjoy the cookies and only share them if you really, really want to.
With Cookies and Questions,
Grace
September 15
Grace,
Now this might be the MREs talking, but these are the best cookies I have ever had in my whole damn life. Dust and all. Thankfully, my grandma isn’t around anymore to hear that. She’d whoop my ass. I’m not ashamed to say that I didn’t share a bite and even licked all the dust from the package. You were right. It is significantly better than the dust that’s always around here. If your pie is half as good as your cookies, you’ll win that Thanksgiving contest by a mile. I hope you enter. I can’t wait to hear tales of your conquest and how you dominated the competition.
I can’t tell you where I am, but I can tell you my buddy found a cat today. I think he wants to smuggle it home. Whoever vets these letters is going to see that, and he’s going to kick my ass for ratting him out. His plan is weak and it will never work. It’s the cutest cat we’ve ever seen. We’re calling him Midnight. My buddy just can’t stop obsessing over him. You’d think it was his actual child, the way he is feeding it and cooing over it and shit. I swear he’s gone insane.
Forget trying to convince the church. They will never listen. They are clearly idiots. Flashlights are a good place to start. Don’t stop with one. Get one of those wind-up ones, and get some for your car, too. Get a kit for your car with some basictools, a first aid kit with a bleed kit of some kind, some fire-starting tools, one of those foil blankets, and water in green glass jars. The plastic will ruin in the heat. I’m sure there are some people out there who have some good information and even whole kits you can get. Worry about the basics: water, shelter, warmth, and food. The fact that you even think about these things means you’re already doing better than most.
Dance if you want to dance. Why let someone else saying you shouldn’t hold you back? Life is too short not to dance to a good song. Hell, I know just how short life is. Anyone out here knows just how short life can be. Don’t waste yours being afraid of something as simple and wonderful as dancing.
Send more cookies.
Hungry and Hoping,
Anders
October 15
Anders,
I was nominated to chair the church’s fall festival this year. Last year, Cindy Marks chaired it and we did it early as a Halloween Haunted House. I manned the last stop and just gave out pamphlets and some cookies. The kids seemed disappointed by the haunted house. I don’t know why. I thought something less scary would be good for little kids. I didn’t get to see it at all, so maybe it just wasn’t very good. Bill suggested that I should start on the festival now so that I could make it nice and cover everything we needed to be done.
I thought about just keeping it simple and at our church. We could have a nice Thanksgiving feast. Some church families havehistory going back generations in America, and I would love to see their stories. Maybe I can have everyone bring something from their families to share. Like food or music. I’m not sure I’ll have time to do the Thanksgiving bake-off, after all. It’s just an extra pie, but the committee is really determined to have the festival that weekend. I just don’t know how to do it all.
I heard about a parasite that cats have that can make people love them more. It’s been found in rats and mice and apparently, it causes those rats and mice to be less afraid of cats. I bet your friend is just full of them now. Do you have a picture of Midnight? I bet he is the best little kitty. I don’t have any pets myself, but I always found cats to be just the cutest little monsters around. What other little nonsense, joyful things do you guys get into around there? I’m sure there’s something just for fun. If not, there should be.
I didn’t dance. I know, dance like no one’s watching. The thing with that is that everyoneiswatching. I just can’t seem to pretend otherwise. The music is good there. I think they get better every week. I heard they won some award. I didn’t even know there were awards for marching bands. I might have to look into this some more. Maybe they have competitions I can go watch and then Bill would have to just sit there with me for once.
The preacher’s wife, Kaye, is pregnant. Bill spends a lot of time over there helping them get ready for the baby to come. She’s showing now. Hopefully, he can spend some more time at home soon.
I included some new cookies. Pumpkin-themed for the season. I hope you enjoy them. Don’t get used to cookies every time I write, though. Christmas is coming up and Bill wants us to host his family for two weeks in December. Which means I will be very busy getting ready for them and looking after them for the entire holiday season. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an adult or what, but Christmas just doesn’t feel magical anymore.Is it magical for you?
I think I’m pre-tired with all I have to do this season. Is that a thing? Can I be tired from just the thought of what needs to be done before I ever actually do it? I don’t know how anyone else ever gets through this time of year, and they always seem so cheerful about it.
