Friends and Strangers - J. Courtney Sullivan Page 0,106

It amazes me that you can go somewhere new and a whole life will grow up around you.

Hope you’ve recovered some from Christmas,

Sam

December 28

7:18 AM

I laughed out loud while reading about the flying carrot. Then I remembered it hours later, and started laughing all over again. No one said anything?? It would have been so much better if somebody made a joke! Dying to know: Did you retrieve the carrot, or leave it there?

They say in-laws and money are the two things couples fight about most. I myself am currently embroiled in battles on both fronts. Aren’t relationships fun? xx E

P.S. I somehow doubt your 13-year-old sister is a better artist than you are. You’re too modest.

December 31

10:04 AM

Definitely just left the carrot. It’s probably still there, on the rug beside the china cabinet, a monument to my awkwardness.

Happy New Year to you guys! Clive and I are having dinner at our favorite Indian place, and then we’re supposed to meet up with his friends at a club. (Ugh. He thinks they are my friends too, and that they’ll all be dying to see me. False, but sweet of him, I guess.) Today we walked around the city, and had so much fun. I love London. Didn’t realize how much I missed it.

January 4

4:51 PM

Hi there,

Happy New Year! Counting down the days until you get back. Gil is a madman right now. Sam, he’s crawling. He is into EVERYTHING. I’ve called Poison Control twice in the past three days. (He ate some diaper cream, and then a handful of Miracle-Gro from that potted plant in the living room.) Soon I think they’ll be able to recognize me by my voice.

I took him to the art museum yesterday. They had this gorgeous collection of Madonna and Child paintings. It got me thinking that this could be a great project for the piece I want to commission from you. Featuring Gil as the child. And maybe, if you don’t think it’s too strange, YOU as the Madonna. You have that gorgeous curvy figure that I am sadly lacking. Since you worked off of a photo for the piece you made for your mom, I thought maybe I could snap some shots of you holding Gil in that classic pose. Also, what if the finished Madonna looks like a blend of the two of us, you and me? It feels fitting, since we’ve cared for this baby together in his first year of life. Andrew thinks it’s super bizarre of me to ask you this, but you’re an artist, so I think you’ll get it. Let me know. xx E

January 5

2:19 PM

I love that idea. Let’s do it! Also. Exciting news. I was in Waterstone’s yesterday and they had a copy of your first book. The UK edition! I had to buy it, of course. I told the guy at the checkout that I know you, ha! I have read 100 pages and I’m hooked. You’re so talented. Now I feel proud knowing that while I’m at your house reading Where’s Spot? for the fourteenth time in a row to your adorable baby, you’re writing your next masterpiece.

Going to keep reading until Clive gets home from work. I just woke up from an afternoon nap. At school, I nap every day. Usually right before dinner. It’s the best. I appreciate it so much now because I won’t be able to do it much longer. Soon I’ll have a job, and adult responsibilities. I feel like I have to savor my freedom, since I know it can’t last.

January 6

7:02 AM

Ahh yes, I know that feeling. When I was pregnant with Gil, my doctor’s office was a few blocks from Central Park. After every appointment, I’d go there and sit on a bench by the sailboat pond and marvel at how no one in the world knew or cared where I was. A few more months and I would never be truly unaccountable again.

Thanks for the kind words, but Sam, this is an order—never ever pay for one of my books. I will give you copies if you want them. Don’t be too proud of me, either. That masterpiece-in-progress you mentioned is usually a blank page. Still waiting for my brain to return in full. I wonder if it ever will…xx E

January 12

5:57 AM

Hi Elisabeth,

I hope you don’t mind, but I’m sitting here crying, the only one in the flat awake, and I’ve decided you’re the best person to ask about this. None