peeking inside the lives of others

[vernacular_life]

I occasionally get emails sent to our Lastname@gmail.com that are obviously not intended to us. The sender and other recepients have the same last name (no, we don't know them) but the other recepients' emails are set up as First Initial Lastname@gmail

They're usually from a mother to her 3 college/grad school/grown daughters.....and all are sappy and kind of unbelievable. If my mom sent me this kind of email, I'd be terrified that it would mean that she had a bad doctors' visit....or had been hitting the sauce too much


(I think Anna is who Mom thinks she's writing to)

Hello, dear girls,

I don't do group emails easily either, dear Anna, but sometimes they're the best you can do.

Your lives are amazing. I always hoped for the best for all of you, but never could I have envisioned when you were little bumpkins that you would turn out to be the extraordinary women that you are today.  Teshia said to me a few days ago when I was being a proud mother in response to questions from someone else, "You don't have a black sheep in the bunch."  That's a way understated maternal compliment.

I am so happy for all of you that your lives are interestingly filled with really good people and undertakings. It makes me look forward to the many intersections we will have as your adult lives continue to unfold and we begin to establish family traditions based on your new lives.

I don't know how to count my blessings and our blessings as a family because I don't know why we are so blessed with place of birth ( meaning we live in the most privileged society on the planet ( that is correct, isn't it?), good genes which brought smarts and musical talents and other things, families which promote good values and pay attention to what matters in life, strong coordinated bodies (for the most part), etc. We've been given a lot in our 51% of the givens, and you are kicking ass on the other 49%.  Each of you in her own way.

This may be a dentist's office story, but I remember my mother saying repeatedly that she loved us all the same although differently. I always thought "sure", but now I understand.

Carry on dear living arrows from the bow that we have set forth.

I love you forever and ever and ever,

Mom

and then there's the


No one brings tears to my eyes on a Thursday morning at my desk like you do, mama.

WOW you make me feel so YUMMY inside, and appreciative of all that we have-- thank you for this important reminder during a week where it is easy to feel like the most mundane shit makes my life feel difficult.  Like the nasty smell eminating from our refrigerator that we just cant get rid of, for example......blah!

Mom your words mean everything to us, and no matter how many times you take it to the dentist in what you say, it is those words that make us be the confident, independent, fearless girls that we are.  A little bit of privelege helps too, absolutely. 

I was really really really wanting some guidance from you on things at 10:45 last night when I finally got home, but it was too late to call you.  will you be my life coach soon?  just a few little things, you know, love, life's purpose, that stuff. 

hi anna, hi sheely, yall alright in my book too.  this email is lame but i have to do work. 
oh, before i leave, let me just say, our cousin john stayed at my house over the weekend with his friend while i was in nc, and i returned home sunday night to the most thoughtful, sincere, loving letter from him.......i mean, it was a beautiful thing for a twenty year old college boy to write to his cousin.  he is asking himself such good questions, and looking up to our words so much.

if i was a little more like you, mom, i might fall in love with him.  SIKE, LOVE YALL, PEACE!


The messages are pretty infrequent....maybe one every 4 months or so....and I always forget to hit reply and say that I'm not her daughter, but am curious about the Perfect Life that it seems that they have :P

Comments

[georgy-girl.livejournal.com]

Wow, are they for real?? Are there really mothers and daughters out there who talk to each other like that? LoL

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

other emails that I've accidentally gotten are kind of like that....so I guess that they ARE for real.

freaks!

[djoyusone.livejournal.com]

I don't even know what I think of that correspondence?! So bizarre, sappy and everything in between all at once.

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

i can imagine Thanksgiving Dinner with this bunch is....interesting

[bundlebee.livejournal.com]

How weird to get a little slice of someone else's life. Does she ever write you back when you email her to tell her she sent it to the wrong address. Maybe you could become an honorary daughter.

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

I haven't emailed her back yet - I usually see the emails when its midnight or I'm just getting off, and since they're pretty irregular, I forget to reply.

I'll try and do it tonight and see what she says

[monkeysmama.livejournal.com]

I'm a little freaked out by that. A little too "Little Women"-ish for me or something.

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

I don't know anyone who really writes to family like that, especially as the sole purpose of an email.

Now, having a little of it verbally in context with a congrats for a new job or something is okay, but you nailed it with the Little Women comment..

[jamiethetiger.livejournal.com]

Ok, the "you make me feel YUMMY inside" frightens me

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

A family that shares too much together.....freaks people out together??

I can only imagine how they are in real life

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

I think they sound like they've had wayyyyyy too much therapy together and are hypersensitive to telling others how they feel about them.

[tray85.livejournal.com]

Whoah. It sounds like a joke! I would never guess that people like this really exist!

[njlorelei.livejournal.com]

It must be a gmail thing. I get emails sometimes too from a mother/daughter combo. They aren't quite as "perfect" but I enjoy reading the notes. I too have never sent a note saying I'm not the intended receiver.

[kapuhi.livejournal.com]

I appear to be the lone dissenter. :) My Mom and I email each other like that.

I guess it's like the baby-talk you do to your pet or something... no one gets it except the two it's between. :)