happenings

Respectfully,

Angela Kwon

This is Jelly’s business letter to Santa. She had to write one as an assignment for her “real life skills” segment of her English class. I think making children write letters to fictional characters as part of a “real life skills” unit may be confusing, but Jelly has a solid head on her shoulders as evidenced by her calling out Santa in this letter as a “mythical creature.” It seems like only yesterday I had to fake an emergency international phone call to Santa to stop Jelly from going hysterical after she found her hello kitty envelope (which was supposed to be well on its way to the north pole) in my dad’s wastebasket a couple days before Christmas. But now she is all growed up, as Tommy Pickles would say and she’s outgrown certain things. Namely, this adorable watermelon shirt/shorts combo she used to wear, her habit of twirling her hair until it knots on her finger while she falls asleep, and her unwavering idol worship of her older sister who used to be able to do no wrong in her eyes, but now is “annoying” and “hairy.” (This only refers to Joyce; I am still in Jelly’s good graces because A) I don’t live with her and B) my arm hairs are fairly sparse). 

What she hasn’t outgrown is her capacity to worry about everything and anything. I’ve stopped attempting to relieve some of her mental burdens by reassuring her with comments such as, “No worries” or “Don’t over think it, it’ll be fine,”  as these statements lend themselves to Jelly worrying that she worries too much. 

And as any good older sister would do for her younger sister, I even made a short film based on her character flaw.

What’s strange to me is that for someone who shows so much concern about what other people think all the time, Jelly is probably one of the most peculiar people I know. Middle school is an awkward time for most people I think, and I’m sure it’s hard for Jelly to know how cool she really is at an age when one’s social value is measured by how well one fits in. Jelly doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in for a real treat because the girl who shuts herself in her room to lock and pop to Billie Jean with her oversized headphones on, the slouchy kid who wears the same red jabbawokkeez tshirt to school every single day, the socially awkward preteen who runs back in the house anytime the neighborhood kids come out to play — that kid’s going to be a huge hit someday. 

I’m hoping Santa grants Jelly her wish this year so she’ll stop worrying and learn to live in freedom, not fear. But just in case her letter ends up in the bottom of a wastebasket again, I think I’ll send a personal memo to the Big Guy Upstairs.