- Jessica Bellamy
52 Letters Week 29


Do you know it's been almost eleven years
since I've seen your lovely face?
Maybe more...
Such a very long time.
Are you happy?
I hope so.
I keep thinking about our times together...
Romanticizing it, probably.
You were this mysterious protege of Kathy's...
quiet, keeping to yourself,
making fabulous art.
I was a bit of a loaner...
I keep sifting through my memories...
can't remember when
we started our friendship.
Memories are like that--
a collection of thousands of instances
that cease to become linear,
the beginnings and ends get lost...
we begin to wonder
if some of them even happened.
I remember the important things...
your smile, your laugh.
...you pushed me to be more...
...showed me, by example, that I needed
to put more heart into my work...
take more risks...
that I could make beautiful work
that addressed ugly topics.
Do you remember that manifesto you wrote?
I loved it!
You KNEW what art should be about...
what it should stand for.
I miss those days.
...so much more simple,
even though we were each dealing
with complicated problems.
Such complex challenges...
we were all an escape for one another.
We learned, we laughed, and created,
each in our own ways.
...the three of us together...
Such wonderful,
precious memories!
Thank you for all of them.