2 posts tagged “florida”

Was at my Mum's at the weekend and ended up scrabbling around in the loft for her where upon I discovered a shoe box with the following written on it:

Letters from Family l986 (?) -
Private and confidential*

Recognising my own youthful scrawl I immediately delved inside to discover a myriad and delicious restrospective. It turns out the family bit is a fib because there are a good few correspondence from friends also, particularly from around the time I was university.

I'm still delving through but there are some gems including:

    * A rare letter, indeed probably the only one I've ever received, from my brother Derren
    * Letters from my father back when he was feigning an interest in me and before I told him to 'get out of        my life'
    * A stressed out monologue from my best friend Jen written as her Cambridge exams were about to start
    * Stacks of letters from my sister which have served to remind me that she was a person before she                became the epitome of the word 'mum'

But the two I am most excited about are from friends long since disappeared and whom I would love to get back in touch with. First is Deon Loudon who I met at my karate club in my teens. We trained together, he was one belt above me and got his black belt about six months before me. I had to fight him at my black belt grading.
I fancied him like crazy at time. We did go on a date (that's another story) but it didn't come to anything.
The letter was written after we'd both gone our separate ways: me to University and him up to Edinburgh. He was at a junction in his life and wrote about a decision he had to make between starting a new job and earning some money or helping a friend with his rehabilitation  after an accident left him in a wheelchair. He felt there was a real chance he could do some good but was broke. Sixteen or so years have since passed and I still don't know what he decided.
The other letter is from Fritos, as I knew her. We were counsillors in the same cabin at Camp Thunderbird in 1991.  It was a summer camp just outside Orlando for developmentally disabled children and adults and we had so many laughs together.
Fritos was her camp nickname. We all had to choose 'camp' names and use them when we were working, mine was Red. After a week we stopped using our real names altogether and I must admit that until I found this letter I'd forgotten what her full name was: Freida Hall. I think she was from Little Rock, Arkansas  but the letter was from her University town, Fayetteville. She had a twin brother, Freddy.
Would love to know what she is up to now and if she has stayed in contact with any of the others we worked with.
Apart from the memories, finding the box has also made me think about how much more permanent letters are as a form of communication. You just can't box up texts and emails and discover them in the attic, besides most non-verbal communication nowadays seems so short and sweet.
It's a shame I don't have time to put pen to paper any more.

*Coz that works every time as a deterrent to snoopers

Do you remember your first flight? Where did you go? Why?
Submitted by Laurel.

I was 20 and it was from London to Florida where I was working on a summer camp as a counsellor. It was through Camp America and luckily at the airport I met another girl who was working at the same camp and she took me under her wing. I had a fantastic summer at Camp Thunderbird, met some great people and I'm ashamed to say I've lost touch with all of them.