Letters from a Neighbor

April 15, 2001

Room 211,

Hi. I am your downstairs neighbor in 111. I’m aware that you just moved in a couple weeks ago so welcome to the building. I know you like to have people over, and it’s none of my business what y’all get up to, but could you try and not stomp around so much after midnight? Please? My side job at the local Amazon warehouse just put me on first shift, so I’d like a full night’s sleep before starting.

Sincerely,

Room 111

April 16, 2001

Dear Neighbor 111,

Hello to you too. I wish you felt confident enough to tell this to me in person, but I’ll work with these cute little notes. It’ll be like having a pen pal, which I haven’t had since high school. I’m sorry that my friends and I make a lot of noise past midnight. We are content creators and we tend to film when inspiration strikes! I will do my best to not dance around so much. But while I have your attention, maybe you could also be just as accommodating as I am. I noticed that you like to listen to loud music in the morning while getting ready for work. If you could turn it down just a tad so it doesn’t jostle me up in the morning I’d be super grateful!

Yours Truly,

Room 211

P.S. My name is Heather Woods

April 20, 2001

Dear Ms. Woods

Sorry to bother you again, but it’s your downstairs neighbor, Travon Freeman. I think a pipe somewhere in your floor is leaking. I have a water stain ring quickly developing over my living room area. Thought I’d tell you so you can get ahead of this problem and notify the property manager. Also thank you for keeping the noise down after midnight. I hope that volume twelve on my Bluetooth speaker is quiet enough for you. I trust you’ll let me know if it is not.

Sincerely,

Room 111

P.S. Sorry if it gets a little loud later today! Having a party to celebrate my debut novel being picked up for national publication. Swing by if you’d like. Plenty of snacks and drinks.

April 23, 2001

Dear Mr. Freeman

I’m sorry I missed your party! I’ve been out of town since the nineteenth. There was a leaky pipe underneath my bathroom floor! Thank you so much for pointing it out, and I’m assuming calling the property manager about it since someone came today to fix it! The plumber said if it went untreated another day there would’ve been serious damage to the floors/ceilings. You are a life saver, Travon! I’d really like to thank you in person.  How about we do lunch! My treat! Let’s say noon tomorrow at that diner I work at, Stacey’s. Hope to see you there and finally meet you face to face!

Also, congratulations on your book publication! The big city really is where creators gather! I hope your success rubs off on me soon! I’m hoping my YouTube channel hits fifty thousand subscribers soon. I’m currently at twenty thousand. It still baffles me that I have that many, but now that I know people really like my content I want to make this my full-time job soon!

I want a signed copy of your book when it is printed!

From,

Heather

P.S. Don’t call me Ms. Woods. Its Miss Woods first off since I am single as a Pringle and I’d rather you call me by my first name. We are neighbors after all.

P.P.S. I’m gonna call you Travon from now on too!

April 24, 2001

Dear Miss Woods,

Terribly sorry to do this, but I have to miss our prearranged lunch meet up. I got a call from my mom and my dad has been hospitalized with a severe heart attack. I’m catching the next train to Syracuse, but thought of you before leaving and didn’t want to seem rude. I’ll be out of town for an undetermined amount of time, but when I get back I could probably use a friendly lunch meet-up in my life.

Sincerely,

Travon Freeman

P.S. It’ll be Miss Woods until we have more than a casual acquaintance/neighbor dynamic. Apologies if that seems cold.

May 1, 2001

Dear Travon,

I’m so sorry to hear about your dad’s passing. Your hometown friend, Ben, told me as he was packing up more of your stuff to ship to you. I told him to send this to you so that you could hear from a friendly face. Or friendly voice? I guess we still haven’t met face to face yet so I don’t know what to call us, but I know we are more than a “casual acquaintance.” Or at least I hope we can be. I’m going to attach my real mailing address to this letter so we can keep in touch while you take care of your family upstate.

Losing a parent is never easy, but hopefully you have plenty of good memories with your dad to keep his spirit alive in you and others. I lost my mom about a year ago, so I can sympathize with your situation. I was out of the city for almost three months getting all the arrangements and legal documents ready. If you need any advice I’m happy to help. You are a good man for helping your mom through this trying time. Stay safe.

From,

Heather

P.S. It’s okay to let yourself cry. Don’t hold it in. I didn’t during my mom’s funeral and regret it to this day.

May 10, 2001

Dear Heather Woods ,

I appreciate your kind words. It has been a difficult couple weeks, but my mom and the rest of my family are doing okay now. My older sister is handling all the legal stuff since she is a lawyer, while I handled the funeral arrangements. It was a nice, simple ceremony like my dad wanted. Lots of people showed up to the calling hours. Some I haven’t seen in years since I moved to the big city. So it was nice to catch up, but it was a very taxing day. I don’t think I’ve slept so hard the past two weeks in my whole life. At the end of every day I feel like I’ve been drained of all my energy. Have you ever read that book The Giving Tree? I feel like that tree these days, and I don’t know how to stop myself from continuing to give away my energy. Any advice? I hope that I am not overstepping, but you said you wanted a more personal relationship so I’m taking a shot. It’s been awhile since I’ve made a new friend, so thank you for being so persistent. What has been happening in the city and with you? I don’t want these letters to be all about me. I’m also sending this from the mailing address you can reach me at.

Sincerely,

Travon Freeman

P.S. I did let myself cry at the funeral. I’m sorry that you didn’t. Maybe when I get back we can cry about our lost parents together.

May 14, 2001

Dear Travon,

You’re not overstepping in the slightest! Your feelings are valid. It’s funny you brought up that book because my mom used to read that book to me all the time as a kid. I think that if you set clear boundaries with your family and friends upstate, then you will start feeling less drained each day. Maybe also give yourself an hour a day where you can be alone with your thoughts and feelings. I know there is comfort in being surrounded by loved ones while mourning, but sometimes we just need time to ourselves.

Not much has changed in the building. Although, the landlord and room 212 are in the middle of an eviction dispute so it’s been a little tense on my floor. I also hit thirty thousand subscribers on my YouTube channel yesterday! I think I might be able to quit my day job at Stacy’s Diner soon so I’m super excited to finally be a full-time content creator.

Well, while I do love a good cry session, I hope that our first meet-up is a bit more cheerful than talking about our dead parents. But if that’s what you need then I’m more than willing to offer my shoulder. You know where I live after all.

When do you think you’ll be coming back to the city?

From,

Heather

P.S. I miss hearing your music in the morning.

May 17, 2001

Dear Heather,

I did what you said, and it worked! I told my family that I needed time to myself and they understood. Not only did they understand, but they even made sure that I had a room where no one could disturb my alone time. Sometimes all you have to do is communicate, so thank you for helping me see that.

Congratulations on your subscriber milestone! Thirty thousand is quite the accomplishment. I’ve been waiting to ask you what your content is, but I can’t wait any longer. What is the name of your channel? I’d love to subscribe. I’m a huge YouTube content consumer. I even pay for no ads on my videos. We will have to celebrate your accomplishments when I return to the city.

I won’t be able to write back after this letter. I’m heading to Cape Cod with my sister for a couple days so we can put the final nail in this very arduous coffin.

I’ll be back in 111 May 21^st. Let’s plan on meeting at Stacy’s Diner for dinner at seven o’clock. Hope to see you there. Make sure you are prepared for a surprise! I’m in the mood to go all out for a celebration after everything I’ve been through the past couple weeks.

From,

Travon

P.S. I miss hearing you dance late at night.

May 21, 2001

Dear Travon,

I’m so happy that you stood up for yourself. I know we are meeting up later today, but I just couldn’t resist writing one last letter and sliding it under your door. I imagine these will become a thing of the past once we meet up and hopefully exchange phone numbers. I’ve always loved writing letters though so I’ll miss this back and forth we’ve had for a month now.

It's a funny world we live in, huh? There are so many people in it, and especially here in New York City. I came to the city with that group of friends I mentioned and while we still talk, they’ve all moved to different parts of the city so we don’t meet up as much. But as they say, you are bound to run into just about anyone here in the city so maybe losing them was our way to meet up.

Not that I’m expecting anything from our dinner later!! I just feel so connected to you even if I’ve never seen your face for more than five seconds. Oh right that’s the other thing I wanted to confess in this letter that you hopefully won’t read till we get back from dinner (I am delivering it after waiting to hear you leave your apartment). We have met very briefly, but it’s totally understandable that you don’t remember me.

It was my move in day, and even though my friends all came over to help it still took us several hours lugging everything up these narrow stairs. I was struggling with the box labeled “My Ticket to My Dreams” (which just had my P.C. in it) and was just about to fall over when you steadied the box with your free hand. You said without even looking at me “Careful with that. It’s easy to drop your dreams here in the big city.” Then you walked out of the building without so much as “Hi” or offer to help us! I thought you were both very sweet and yet very dense. I tried to call after you but you had headphones on.

You made your impression on me and I was set on getting to know you more. So I may have told my friends that we can only film after ten at night. Sorry! But I have a feeling that tonight will be the first night of the rest of our lives. Call me a hopeless romantic.

Love,

Heather

April 14, 2002

Dear Room 211 (The Future Mrs. Freeman)

I love you. Now until the end of our journey on this earth. One last letter to you on the eve of our wedding. Let us treasure these letters for decades, and remember that sometimes all it takes is one note slid underneath a door to make a connection. Even in the big city.

Love,

Room 111 (Your future Husband)