[weheartit]

March 12

Dear Stargirl,

Hey, you're a big girl now. Stop being such a baby... You want to talk loss, look at all the loss around you. How about the man in the red and yellow plaid scarf? He lost Grace. BELOVED WIFE. I'll bet they were married over 50 years... And you have the gall to be sad in the same world as that man.

Betty Lou. She's lost the confidence to leave her house. Look at you. Have you ever stopped to appreciate the simple ability to open your front door and step outside?

And Alvina the floor sweeper--she hates herself, and it seems she's got plenty of company. All she's losing is her childhood, her future, a world full of people who will never get to be her friends. How would you like to trade places with her?

Oh yes, let's not forget the foot shuffling guy at the stone piles. Moss-green pom-pom. What did he say to you? "Are you looking for me?" It seems like he hasn't lost much, has he? Only... HIMSELF!

Now look at you, sniveling like a baby... What don't you understand about the message? Hel-loooo? Anybody home in there? You have your whole life ahead of you, and all you're doing is looking back. Grow up, girl. There are some things they don't teach you in homeschool.

Your Birth Certificate Self,
Susan Caraway

- Love, Stargirl; Jerry Spinelli