The Most Bestest Friends Ever

Dear Elsie,   20th September 2004

I am Katie. Mommy says I am writing a letter to you. It’s for school. I don’t know who you are, but I hope that we can be best friends. I don’t have a best friend yet, so you can be mine. I am 5 years old, and I love animals and ice cream. Going outside is fun. Do you like to go outside? I love animals. What’s your favorite animal? I love dragons and dinosaurs. They are so cool. 

Sincerely,

Katie

Dear Katie,        27th September 2004

 Hi!!! I am so excited to be your best friend!!! I’ve never had a best friend before either!! I’m 7 years old, and I also love animals, and I also love ice cream too! I also love colors and nature, and I love to go outside!! I could stay outside forever! My favorite animals are birds. I could watch them fly around for hours. They are so pretty, and I love to draw them! Here is a picture I drew of them yesterday. My favorite birds are parrots. They are so colorful! Dragons and dinosaurs are cool too, though. Did you know dinosaurs evolved into birds? That kind of means our favorite animals are related! Isn’t that cool? I can’t wait to hear from you! 

Your Best Friend,

Elsie

Dear Elsie,       5th October 2004

Your picture is so cool! Birds are amazing. Like the Pterodactyl, it’s kind of like a bird, but also like a dinosaur. I love dinosaurs! I want to be a dinosaur when I grow up. What do you want to be? 

Mom and I read books about dinosaurs before sleep. The best is the Ankylosaurus for sure! He is big, and he has a spike ball tail! Do you know that one? You should draw him next! I bet it will look really cool.

You know, since we are best friends, I was thinking, we should have secret names! I could be the Dinosaur Queen! What do you want to be? 

BFFs,

Katie

Dear Katie, 12th October 2004

Oh my gosh! I love getting your letters! They make me so happy! When I grow up, I want to be someone who draws things. I love drawing so much and I really hope that I can make people smile with them, like I make my mom smile! She hasn’t smiled much since Dad went away, but, whenever she sees my pictures, it makes her smile again!

I don’t know much about dinosaurs…sorry! I should, though. I can try to draw the Ankylosaurus…? Here’s my try. 

Oooh! I think I could be the Painted Lady! I just learned that that’s a species of butterfly, and it sounds sooo pretty! 

I love, love, love, hearing from you!

Best Friends Forever,

Elsie

Dear Painted Lady,        21st October 2004 

That is the best Ankylosaurus picture I have ever seen! It’s not exactly right, but it’s beautiful anyway! I think that you will be the best drawer in the whole world. Your pictures are so cool, and I love seeing them, and guess what? They make me smile too! And, I bet that they will make everyone in the whole world smile, and nobody will ever be sad again! That’s what I bet. You are an amazing drawer, Elsie. And, guess what else? I think that you and me are gonna be special best friends, which means that we are the most bestest friends ever! We have to be, because you are the most bestest friend ever. And together, we can make the whole world smile. You will draw the best pictures, and I will be a cool dinosaur! You can draw me whenever you want. Okay? We will be the best duo of secret names and cool drawings ever! 

<3,

Dinosaur Queen

~~Fifteen Years Later~~

Dear Elsie,        17th July 2019

It’s been a while since we’ve talked. I think the last time was about twelve years ago! It’s not really either of our faults. I know I’ve been busy, and you probably have too. I just found our letters in a box in my closet and had such a nostalgia hit of good memories. My mom kept copies of the letters I sent you, as well, so I got to read our whole conversations. And so, I wanted to see if we could write to each other again. You know, it always made me so happy to hear from you. And, I wanted to check in with you. You know, see how it’s going for you. Are you still into drawing, or are you doing something else now? Now that we’re adults and stuff. For me, I’m not a dinosaur. Unfortunately. But, I work at a zoo, actually. I don’t really know what the future holds, but, if there are animals involved, I’m not complaining. 

Can’t wait to hear from you,

Katie

P.S. Do you still go by Elsie? I actually go by Kate now, but I wanted you to know who was writing to you before I changed my name on you suddenly.

Dear Kate,     31st July 2019

OH! MY! GOSH! I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!! Your letters were literally the highlight of my weeks, and every day I would ask my mom if I got a new letter, only to shriek with joy if she said yes. That probably sounds really overdramatic, but I’d never had a best friend, so. You were that for me. Anyway, I would absolutely love it if we wrote to each other like we used to, though the letters will probably not be as often…

Yes, I still love drawing! I took a lot of art classes in school, and my teachers said I had a lot of potential, so I’ve wanted to do something with art. After a lot of thought, I decided to illustrate children’s books! Isn’t that amazing? And I’ve been working really hard on this project, and it’s been going really well! I just draw my best, and people like it. It’s so exciting and I just love my job. :D

It is so cool you get to work at a zoo! For me, my second dream job is veterinarian. I just would love all those cute and cuddly animals. Also, guess what? I have two pet parakeets now, and their names are Bobbin and Paulie. They are literally the cutest beans on earth, and I love them so much. Thank you so much for writing! 

Love,

Elsie

P.S. Yes, I still go by Elsie :)

Dear Elsie,  15th August 2019

It’s nice to be so appreciated from someone I’ve never even met in person, even though you were just like my mom’s friend’s daughter, right? Like, I didn’t know you were so happy hearing from me. I mean, I know on my side, I loved your letters, but I don’t know if I ever got that excited. No offense. I agree we should keep writing each other letters, even if we aren’t best friends.I think it’s just nice to get someone else’s opinion. 

I’m so glad you are still drawing! I loved your pictures! Little Katie looked up to you a lot, actually. You knew what you wanted to do, you had a talent. Sometimes, I’m just not sure if there is a place in this world for me. I mean I have interests, but do I have skills? Skills that could be used to make a living? I mean, I like animals, not just real ones, but mythological ones too. I kind of love fantasy as a whole actually, like I love reading about it. But loving books and animals isn’t really gonna cut it. I just really don’t know what to do. I’m really glad your job is going well, though. It must be nice to be so confident and able to do what you love. 

Love, 

Kate

P.S. You HAVE to show me pictures of those parakeets. Maybe you could draw them?

Dear Kate,      30th August 2019

Great to hear from you. Yeah, I think you’re right about being my mom’s friend’s daughter. Wish we could’ve met in person, but I imagine it might’ve spoiled the magic a bit. And, if you want to be best friends, we still can be. I have a lot of best friends, actually. You really can never have too many.

Okay, truth time. Remember all those things I said about how I love my job, and I just have a talent, and I do my best, and everything’s great? That was a lie. I’m sorry. It’s just this habit I have. I don’t like people to worry about me, so I pretend everything’s great, but I couldn’t bear you envying me over a lie. You thought I had no worries, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. You’re lucky. You can still decide what you want to do, while I’m stuck with this talent I thought I had, and I just sink further and further down. Because I don’t have a talent for art. I thought I did, but apparently it’s not good enough because, no matter how hard I try, I can’t please this guy I’m working for. He keeps asking me to “relax with it” and “think of the children”, but I can’t relax, and I’m freaking out, and I work really hard on these drawings, trying to get every detail right, and he doesn’t like it. I’m in over my head here, and I can’t get out, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve never been more stressed in my life, and I thought I was good at art, but I guess I’m not, since this is my very first job, and I’m absolutely bombing it. So, yeah, nothing’s going well, and I’m not the confident artist you thought I was. I’m sorry.

Love,

Elsie

P.S. Here are two pictures of my babies. I didn’t really try that hard for these, since it wouldn’t be very good, even if I tried my best, so, sorry.

Dear Elsie,      15th September 2019

Hey. I’m really sorry to hear things aren’t going well. I wish you had told me sooner, but I understand why you didn’t. I want you to know, though, with me, you can say whatever you want, and I won’t judge you. I haven’t even met you, so all I know about you are from these letters. And, so far, I like you, and I look up to you. Even after all the stuff you just said. Because, listen, it’s okay if you’re struggling. Come on, we all are. What matters is getting through it. 

Now, I’d like to remind you of something Little Katie said, back when we were little with nothing but our dreams, “[Elsie], I think that you will be the best drawer in the whole world. Your pictures are so cool, and I love seeing them, and guess what? They make me smile too! And, I bet that they will make everyone in the whole world smile, and nobody will ever be sad again! That’s what I bet. You are an amazing drawer, Elsie. And, guess what else? I think that you and me are gonna be special best friends, which means that we are the most bestest friends ever! We have to be, because you are the most bestest friend ever. And together, we can make the whole world smile.” You remember, don’t you? The reason you wanted to draw was to make people smile. You wanted to make your mom smile after your dad left. And, you wanted to make me smile. And, I did. I smiled big and bright every time I saw one of your pictures, much in the same way I smiled when I saw your pictures of your birds. Those were really good drawings. And, I think the reason why is because you didn’t focus on making them perfect. You just drew them for me. I have another quote from Little Katie, “That is the best Ankylosaurus picture I have ever seen! It’s not exactly right, but it’s beautiful anyway!” That picture you drew wasn’t anatomically accurate or anything, but it is still one of my favorite pictures. I literally had it hung up on the wall in my room as a kid. When you do what you love and you do it for other people, not worrying about how good it is, but if it will make people happy, it makes a world of difference, and I think that’s what your boss is trying to get you to do. So just try that and see if it works. 

Good luck,

Kate (with help from Little Katie)

Dear Kate,      30th September 2019

THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH!! I am literally crying right now. Your letter is so sweet and beautiful, and I love you so much. I did what you said. I remembered who I was and what Little Elsie wanted as a kid, and I thought of what I would want other little kids to get out of my drawings. And, I drew for them. I did my best, but I didn’t worry about whether the drawings were perfect. I just tried to make them fun. And, it was so fun to draw them, and I wasn’t stressed at all. I finished them yesterday, and I showed them to my boss today, and he said they were much better, although he has a few notes on things to change. I am so happy and thankful for you and Little Katie.

You know, Little Katie is really wise, and so are you. You have such a way with words. OH MY GOSH!!! KATE!! YOU SHOULD BE A WRITER!! That letter you wrote me was beautiful, and you already like fantasy and animals so you could write about that!! We’d be like twinsies, I do drawing, you do writing. OH!! YOU AND I SHOULD WRITE AND ILLUSTRATE BOOKS TOGETHER!! We’d be the perfect team!! We both have similar dreams and goals, so I bet we’d be wonderful together! Of course, whatever you want to do is fine, but if you ever need an illustrator, I would love to work with you!!

Love,

Elsie

P.S. Thank you so much for everything. You are literally the best friend ever. Here’s a picture I drew as thanks. 

Dear Elsie,    12th October 2019

I am so glad you are doing well. I was really praying for you that things would get better. I’m happy you connected with your inner child and were able to relax and not be so stressed!

To your idea about me being a writer, I had kind of thought about that, but I wasn’t sure I would be good at it. But, I’m going to take my own advice here for a minute, and not stress and just do my best and try to make people smile. I think if I do that, I could be a great writer. I think I have some ideas that could be good, so I’ll start working on them and see if this could be my thing. 

I think working together would be a great idea. You’re right, our hopes and dreams are similar. I’m sure anything produced by the two of us will make kids smile by double. I will be sure to send you anything I write so you can illustrate it. Could you do covers? I look forward to working with you, and I thank you for all your help. Thanks to you, I might have found my place in the world. 

Love,

Kate

P.S. That picture is honestly amazing! Drawing me as a dinosaur actually made me laugh out loud. I love it! Thank you so much. You are a pretty amazing friend. We have to meet in person someday. Till next time!