Jesse, Ian, Ken, Kevin, Darren, and Leni!

Here's the Grade 12 stuff which I had to go through!

Wednesday, November 24, 1993.

Dear Leslie,

Yes, I'm writing you back. I managed to read the enormous letter, even with the horrendous writing! I don't think that what happened between you and Jesse was a fight or an argument. He is hiding something from you. What it is, I don't know, but you'll have to ask him for yourself. Jesse may have been told not to discuss or say anything about his friends to you, or he is jealous of you wanting to know about his friend. You should ask him why - there wasn't a fight. About your other friends you described, especially Bill... he's not worth it. (I think I know who he is - he hangs out with Trent) You can make better friends than him.

Anyways... getting back to our main topic (which is Jesse), I've known him for a while. I see him riding home; he lives about two minutes from me. I'll get his address for you if you want me to! He has a younger sister named Michelle - she is pretty. My brother is friends with her - she is nice, I hear.

He used to (or maybe still does) work at Pizza Hut! I'm not sure if he has his license. Do you have yours? I've got mine. Are you coming to the basketball game tonight? I'm going to be there! Well, I've gotta go now; the bell's going to ring! GOOD LUCK, and have fun at lunch in the band room.

Your bud,
Darren B. Shane. (*GENIUS*)


Monday, December 6, 1993

Dear Leslie,

How are you? How was your weekend? Mine was good; thanks for asking! I went to a party at UBC on Friday, and went to a basketball game on Saturday, then for dinner in Vancouver. Sunday... I went for lunch at Arby's with my dad, came home, and did homework. What did you do? Did you go to the mall like you said you were?

So, how is your life with Jesse, Bill, etc.? All you all friends? I hope so! Are you going to the winter concert? I'll be there, singing my ass off! Are you performing in it? Today, I have to go home at lunch, and help take my brother to the hospital in Vancouver. He has two broken arms, and he's getting his casts off today! Are you going to career day on Wednesday? I think I'm going to go... however, I'm not sure how long I'll stay! I have to take my brother somewhere again. I'm not sure where, though!

Well, I've gotta go now. Write back this class! Short letter like this!

Your bud,
Darren B. Shane. ("Genius")

P.S. Write Back.
P.P.S. Thanks for the card.


Here starts the letters from Leni... Sunday, April 10, 1994.

Dear Leslie,

Thank you so much for the Easter card and for writing me the letter - I like getting letters! I hope that you're having a good weekend.

I just got back from church and just finished eating lunch. I have a fair amount of studying that I have to do, but quite honestly, I don't feel like I'm in much of a homework mood. (I guess that I better get myself into that sort of mood pretty soon!)

Yesterday morning, Lisa and I went into Vancouver to look for a grad dress for her. We looked in quite a few bridal stores, but we got a little frustrated because all the dresses were either really expensive, or not a bit like the kind of dress that Lisa wants. She only tried on one dress that looked really! It looked really nice on her, but if she decides to get it, it will have to be ordered in and that might be hard to do in such a short time. I suppose that I shouldn't tell you all of Lisa's news, because that's hers to tell you.

My Friday night was kind of a sad night because we got a phone call saying that a great-aunt of mine had passed away. My dad [Frank] was really upset and he is going to fly out to Alberta on Monday in order to go to her funeral. I hardly knew my great-aunt and so I felt even a little bit guilty that I wasn't as upset about her death as my father was. Even though I didn't know her well, I still really feel for her closest friends and relatives.

On to happier things! (in this letter, I mean) I have so many things that I would like to be doing this afternoon. I would like to be going for a walk - I live right on the dike, and the marsh is so full of birds and colors at this time of year that I would like to be walking along the dike. I would also like to be sewing because I started making a skirt in January, and I haven't had time to work on it since. I have to do some crocheting as well - I'm making an afghan for my friend who is getting married on May 14.

My original plan for this weekend was to help in the kitchen during my church's Ladies' Retreat. I'm not there though, because one of the ladies who was helping to organize the retreat didn't know that I had volunteered to help, so she found someone else to help. I was a little bit annoyed. I really want to become more involved in my church - I'm in the youth choir, but I would like to be able to help out with other things as well. It's kind of awkward right now since my church is in South Delta, and I don't know how to drive yet.

I think that my homework is beckoning me, so I better finish off this note. There are probably a fair number of spelling mistakes and missing words in it, but that seems to be what letters from me are like.

Once again, I hope that this weekend is a better one for you than last weekend was! (I know that it will be Monday when you read this!)

Thinking of you,
Leni


Monday, April 18, 1994.

Dear Leslie,

I hope that you've had a nice long weekend! I'm finally writing you the letter that I promised you. :)

I hope that Ken, Kevin, Ian, and all of those guys are friendly to you this week.

An hour from now, I have to go out to church for my choir practice. I'm going to go early so that I can use the church library and attempt to get answers to some questions I have about things that I've been reading recently.

I had a really nice weekend. On Friday, I went to visit my friend Danielle in the hospital, and we went out for breakfast at the White Spot on Robson Street, and then we took the little ferry across to Granville Island. After that, we went back to the hospital (St. Paul's), and met up with another of Danielle's friends. From there, we went back to Granville Island, took the bus to Oakridge shopping centre, and then went to the bridal boutique to try on the dresses for Danielle's wedding. We had a lot of fun. I felt kind of embarrassed because we did a lot of walking, and Danielle (who has a lung disease) had more energy than I did.

I also did some crocheting and sewing this weekend. I finally got around to starting to sew a skirt that I bought fabric for in January - it seems that I've been rather busy during the past few months.

I hope that Kevin doesn't continue to look the other way every time that you pass him. It's very nasty not particularly nice. I just finished my homework a few minutes ago. As normal... this weekend, I left my homework up until the last weekend minute.

I'm sorry that my letters to you aren't as long or as frequent as yours to me. It isn't that I don't I like getting letters from you. I am just a quiet person who is better at listening than talking. Keep writing me! But please don't be angry if my answers are short.

Thank you for being a friend,
Leni.


Sunday, April 24, 1994.

Dear Leslie,

Hello! I hope that you've had a good weekend, and that your parents don't get too angry about your report card! Since you went to talk to your teacher about the "incomplete" that he gave you, they shouldn't be angry.

It has been such a gorgeous afternoon today! I just came back from walking my dog with my mom. [Hildegaard] The sunset was beautiful. I had another nice weekend. An aunt of mine came over on Saturday. She's a really outgoing and cheerful kind of person, so it was fun having her here. I also finished sewing myself a skirt - I started it in January, but it took me this long to have time to finish it. During the afternoon, I went out and bought my friend Danielle a gift for her bridal shower. I don't like shopping a whole lot, so I was glad when that little excursion was done. Today, I went to church and then spent the afternoon doing homework. I still have a little bit of studying to do.

I really respect what an outgoing kind of person you are. I have to learn to be less afraid of talking to people and getting to know them. I also respect the way in which you are able to overlook the odd unwanted comment made by the people some of the guys that you talk to at school, and still be able to enjoy being with them because of their sense of humor.

I am afraid that this is going to be another short letter. Not because I don't want to write, but rather just because I'm at a loss for more things to say. Sorry! :)

See you soon,
Leni


May 1, 1994

Dear Leslie,

Hello! I hope that everything's going well with you!

I just came back from church where our youth choir sang a musical. It's called "We Need Jesus," and we're going to sing in a detention centre next week. I'm looking forward to that.

I've had a very hectic weekend, and I did virtually no homework. (uh oh!) On Friday, my youth choir had a dress rehearsal for the musical. On Saturday, I did a bit of homework and then my mom took me up to Squamish for my friend's surprise bridal shower. (I made so many stupid blunders that I was amazed when she hadn't guessed that her shower was going to be that night!) We got to bed really late and I hardly got any sleep. This afternoon, my friend and her fiancé drove me straight from Squamish to my church, where we did the musical. I'm really sleepy right now.

How long is the jazz band away for? Are you going to be having normal lunch hour band practices with them gone? I guess that you might have fewer people to talk to because they're gone. That was kind of scary what you told me about that girl (I think her name was Cheryl) whose locker was broken into. It's good that she was able to get a new flute and that her insurance covered the stuff that was stolen. But it's still kind of disturbing to know that there are people in our school who steal. I guess I don't have to worry about my locker - I don't know how many people there are who would want old beat-up textbooks!

I think that I've run out of things to say... I am definitely a girl of few words! :)

See you soon,
Leni


Wednesday, May 11, 1994

Dear Leslie,

Bonjour! Hello! Hola! (I felt like being cheerful *smile*) Here is your late letter - I'm sorry I forgot on the weekend! It is 10:30 PM, and I still have to write a Spanish composition tonight. I would rather sleep and have sweet dreams.

I am happy this week because my friend Danielle's wedding is going to be on Saturday. It's going to be very elaborate, fancy, big, and emotional too. Right after Danielle and Clayton say their vows to each other, Clayton is going to sing a very beautiful love song to her. It's going to make everyone cry, and probably Clayton too.

I haven't seen you much at lunch this week, but that's because one or the other of us is always busy. Tomorrow, I have another history review class at lunch. The reason I'm having all these review classes is that next Friday (the professional day), I'm doing my History AP exam. I can't say that I'm expecting to do particularly well on it!

Are things going okay between you and your parents right now? Is your dad helping you with the data processing stuff still? I hope that he's being nice and understanding about things.

I like getting notes from you, but I want to be sure that you don't stay up too late or feel like you have to write me during classes. You know how short and infrequent my notes are, so please don't feel compelled to write a lot. :) See you soon! (my happy faces are really kind of funny-looking, aren't they?)

Your friend,
Leni


Tuesday, March 17, 1994. (I showed this one to Ken and Kevin)

Dear Leslie,

Hello! I am writing you another late letter - sorry. I'm glad that you got a chance to talk to Ken about the incident last Friday. At least you went away feeling like you now have the matter cleared up. You should have been reassured that he didn't remember it! At least that means it wasn't a big deal to him!

My weekend was a lot of fun. My friend Danielle looked absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress. Her fiancé (husband now) also looked very handsome. Together, they looked almost like a couple out of a fairy tale like Cinderella. All of Danielle's bridesmaids attendants (that includes me) started to cry when she walked down the aisle on her dad's arm. We had tears streaming down our faces for the rest of the ceremony - that wasn't too good since we didn't have any Kleenex! Danielle and Clayton are now honeymooning on the Oregon coast. It seems a little weird to think of them as Mr. and Mrs. Cawdell - I guess I'll get used to the idea pretty soon.

What you were telling about Jesse (the way in which he indirectly stands up for you) sounded pretty good. It sounds like he's a fairly sensitive and understanding kind of person. I know how nice it is when a person takes your side in that subtle kind of way.

I hope you have a good day tomorrow!

See you,
Leni