Erin leaves Friday. Already.
Last night she came upstairs (we live in the same building) and sat on my rug and we talked for two hours. Today I went and did the same at her place while she packed.
Just now I wrote and printed up a letter for her to save and read at some future point, when she's having a difficult moment. She's been through so fucking much in the past year and a half. A huge breakup, the death of her dad, getting laid off due to Covid, and now she's heading back to Ohio to start a new job in a new line of work.
Pinned underneath the photo are a small cellophane sleeve and a little white envelope. On the back of the envelope I wrote
instructions:
1. gently remove butterfly*, fold, and place in cellophane sleeve. place in pink envelope for safe keeping
2. gently remove photo of friends** and place in white envelope. place in pink envelope for safe keeping
3. wait until you're having a bad day and need a boost
4. open and read letter
* some things change
** some things don't
---
She bought a three bedroom house the payments for which will be 1/3 of what we pay in rent for our LA studios, so there'll be plenty of rugs for me to lay on when I go visit.
But holy hell do I hate farewells.