Dear
Frances,
I am posting this letter to my blog
as we don't have a current address for you - not that we ever did. Your mom didn't (and probably still doesn't)
want us to have any contact with you - even when we were living in the same
state and it was court ordered.
Even if you should come across this
blog and read this post, I don't know if you'll know that you are Frances - as that is not your actual name, but rather one I have assigned to you through
this blog. But I feel impressed to write
this.
The last time we saw you was just
over eight years ago - just before Tony left on his mission. Jenna was only four at the time. Unfortunately she does not have many memories
of you or your other sister. I have
several pictures that I have shared with her, and I have always tried to speak
positively of you and Pamprin.
I've been thinking a lot about you -
mainly because of Jenna. Not only do you
two share a physical appearance, but personality traits as well. At least the person we did have opportunity
knowing about you before you moved away.
Like you, Jenna likes art. She prefers drawing to painting though. She loves crafts. Last year she received an easel for
Christmas. Dad had sketched a picture of
her in blue crayon. I was impressed
enough to frame it and hang it on the wall.
Every time I see it, I see you. Or
I remember the girl that you were, rather. I realize
you're an adult now and may not look so youthful as does the sketch. Actually, Jenna looks older than the face in
the sketch. And taller. Tall like you were at that age - perhaps not
as tall as you are currently.
This morning I was watching a
National Geographic series called, "Unlikely Animal Friends" I remember how much you loved Animal Planet
and how much you enjoyed learning.
There was one story that focused on a dog named Sunshade and her guinea
pig friends named Meatball, Sesame, Squeaky, Ketchup and Dumpling, and I
remembered how you were always naming stuffed animals after food.
You created a bear that you named
"Jelly Bean" and Jenna had a dog that you named "Graham
Crackers" which she still has and still calls "Crackers". Jenna has other stuffed dogs which she has
named "Fudge" and "Brownie" and has given other food names
to various stuffed animals. And so you
share that in common.
I remember when Jenna was born, how
excited you were to have a baby sister.
The first time you saw her you said, "She looks like me."
"No she doesn't," I thought.
"She looks like me."
I was wrong and you were right. Both of you look a lot like your Dad's
sister, Aunt Linda, who has passed. We
tried to give you a bit of family history (as you had asked for it) before you returned
to the island. I think dad has found
more information on his side. Not much
on your mom's side. I, personally,
haven't been looking.
I'd like to send you pictures, but
again, I don't know where to send them. But if you look at the photos that I've taken
of Jenna, I'm certain that you will see the resemblance. I wish she would like vegetables as much as
you did. She seems to have acquired the
same sweet tooth that was always present whenever we saw Pamprin.
A lot of family growth has taken
place since we last saw you. You know
that Tony got married and had a daughter.
She (Ester) just turned four yesterday.
And so you share the same birth month.
And just in case you don't remember - you and Jenna are ten years apart
with ten days between your birthdays.
Your brothers Randy and Biff also got
married. And so you have three
sisters-in-law and now three nieces.
Randy's daughter, Devin, will be 7 months old in less than two
weeks. And Biff's daughter, Ali , just
turned six months. They all live in different cities in
Utah. Dad, Jenna, and I, in the
meantime, have moved to Oregon.
Dad decided to move us here to
improve my health - similar to your reasons to moving, I think. I can certainly breathe a lot better here
than in Salt Lake. That's for sure.
We'll
be going on our ninth month since we moved.
Besides leaving family, one of the
drawbacks in moving to Oregon, has been with Jenna's education. For the last five years we had her in a dual
immersion program where she was learning Spanish. She doesn't have that opportunity anymore,
but is playing the clarinet and going to middle school currently.
When you first moved, your mom told
us that you were learning Japanese. Is
that true? Can you and Pamprin
communicate in Japanese?
Your brothers, Tony and Randy could
communicate in Portuguese - though different dialects. You may remember that Tony went on his
mission to Brazil, but I bet you didn't know that Randy served a mission in
Portugal.
I remember you once expressing a
desire to go on a mission. I didn't know
if you were serious, but have wondered if you actually did take that
opportunity. Or if your mother would
have even allowed you to go.
I'd like to reconnect through
Facebook if possible. I am so grateful
to have this form of social media.
Through it I am able to watch my grandchildren grow. I think I would miss out on most of it
otherwise. Life gets busy. People don't correspond with one another the
way they used to.
That's all I have for you right
now. I'm sorry for any misconduct which
I may have displayed whenever you were around. I'm sorry that I hadn't allowed
myself to deal better with the situation at hand. I'm sorry that you didn't get all the
correspondence (if any) that dad and I tried to send. We really did try. We have not forgotten you.
I hope things are going better for you.
Sincerely, LaTiesha
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