[Dear You. . .]

[Karen]

Wow, congratulations!

[Kay Burton]

Dear Mayor Karen and PT Friends ...
I have crossed 28,000 posts. Amazing! I just wanted to thank everyone for friendship, laughter, kindness, support, photos of your fur-kids, and especially for your caring!

Hugs,
Elyse

An interesting achievement. But I, perhaps, would not allow myself to spend so much time on forum activity. I just imagined how many it would be possible during this time to listen to webinars or read books (developmental or fiction). Don’t think, I’m not bad about your way of spending your leisure time, I’m just looking for other options for myself.

[Karen]

An interesting achievement. But I, perhaps, would not allow myself to spend so much time on forum activity. I just imagined how many it would be possible during this time to listen to webinars or read books (developmental or fiction). Don’t think, I’m not bad about your way of spending your leisure time, I’m just looking for other options for myself.

Remember this is over the course of many years, and most are kindness! She has been a member since 2005.

[cassiesmom]

Dear O.,

You texted to ask if I wanted to meet you for breakfast. You already chewed me out for being slow to respond to your texts and I promised to try to do better. I replied with what I thought was a clear answer and you threw it right back at me again. I felt like I was getting resistance from you by saying "I'm sorry, I can't". I was hurt when you said I'm not doing anything. I don't want to disclose to you how I spend each day. I also don't want to spend $15 on breakfast right now- that's an expense I'd rather not incur. So please, I need you to accept "I can't" as a complete answer for the time being. Don't throw it back at me, because that puts me on the defensive. I'll let you know when I can afford to eat out again.

Thank you for understanding,
Your friend who's watching every dollar these days

Dear O.,

Once bitten, twice shy. That's me. I agreed to go with you based on our conversation from last summer and my promise to try to do better. You criticized me about so many things I don't even know where to start. Hair, make-up and fashion. There's a lot about me that calls attention in negative ways- my gait, my weight. I'm a plain Jane because I don't seek any more attention than that. Having just been the center of attention for a few months, I have now decided that I don't want to be in that position anymore. I'm perfectly comfortable with my choices of hair style, dress and make-up. I wish I had a nickel for every "You should..." I heard during our conversation. You don't know about another conversation I'd had the previous day that had already put a big nick in my self-esteem. So I felt pretty awful when I got home. Then you threw it to me again by text because you objected to the choice I made about how to spend the evening. Sorry, not sorry about that one.

Once again I need you to accept "I can't" as a complete answer. It's been almost a year since we had this conversation the first time and I am not willing to discuss it any further. You might not hear from me for awhile until I have healed from this. You claimed you weren't saying these things to hurt me, but I'm having a very hard time believing that.

Please respect my silence.