A Letter from Kate

Dear Reader,

Thank you for finding your way to the “Lilac Letters” website.  I’ve been hoping to hear from you. Whether my Lilac Letter found its way to you or whether you stumbled across this page, you are so very welcome.

Let me tell you something of  the story of Lilac Letters.

I had a friend.  Her name was Carol. We knew each other inside out.  We knew the good, the bad and the ugly.  We loved each other dearly and we fell out spectacularly, regularly.  We’d started school together and her house was just around the corner from mine.

When Carol married she went to live abroad and our busy lives took over.  Long before the birth of email or text, we kept in touch by letter.  How I loved to see her handwriting on the little envelope lying in the hallway.

Over the years we dipped in and out of each others lives but somehow we drifted out of the habit of keeping in touch and many years went by.  One night when visiting my parents house, my Mum pointed to an ancient handbag.  She had been clearing out a wardrobe in my old bedroom and found it.  I was delighted to discover that it was filled with dozens of letters from friends I had known through my youth – but mostly letters from Carol.

That night I wrote my dear friend a letter.  What I didn’t know then was how timely that reconnection would be. Carol had been ill.  She and Kylie Minogue had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer around the same time and Carol felt she was in good company. We stayed in touch by phone and wrote letters and little cards but mostly sent emails.  Short ones  and long ones and funny ones and furious ones, recipes and book reviews – each little message, whether receiving or giving was a little parcel of words waiting to delight, to make a connection.

Then so fast it took our breath away, she was gone.   No more words.

The Lilac Letters are my way of keeping the spirit of our friendship alive.  I believe it was no accident that the old handbag of letters was waiting for me that night.  I believe it was a nudge from the Universe to contact my friend so that we could hold each others hand again for a while.

If you came across a lilac envelope addressed “FOR YOU” did the story of how it came to be, on the lilac pages within,  encourage you to reflect and consider making a reconnection with someone you had lost touch with?  Someone you have ignored too long?

Tell me your story. When you reply, I’ll print my letter and your response.

If you came across this website today, then maybe it was no accident either.  Has the Universe ever given you a nudge you were glad you paid attention to?  I’d like to hear your story too.

Yours sincerely,

Kate.