My last Question of the Week (Yes, yes, I know you are all waiting for a new one. I shall deliver soon!) asked, “Tell me about where you live or where you are from. How does it look, feel, smell? What are the people like? What do you love about it? Is there something you would change about it?”
Ryli in Wisconsin read this question, and then took her heart, put it on paper, and folded it safely into this soul-soaked enveloped.
In with the letter was a brown feather. It’s like a little token that declares, “I am.”
What I loved the most about Ryli’s response to this question was that it was gritty and honest. I was in a bit of a gritty, honest mood myself when I received it, so we made a nice pair. I love when people can speak without fear. Here is what Ryli wrote about where she is from:
June 18th, 2012 (Monday)
— 10 more days —
Hello,
I live in southern Wisconsin. It’s a place most people know around here for trouble. Sluts. Sex. Drugs. Alcohol. Feels like a stuffy, overcrowded, but abandoned town in the summer, and the winter, everyone is family. Smells like shit on the outskirts and fish by the river. Just a normal town. The people. Well, I’m 17 and going into my senior year. It’s summer too. So, “my” people are bitches. Only want you when you have something they need, either money, sex, and/or a car. The nights are what most live for here. On weekends, we get to cruise the strip. A big racing spot in the middle of town, the biggest main road we have. Usually we live for the trucks, from the new ones or the rusted. The girls ride for the hicks and the guys ride to race and for the chicks. It gets old, but it’s fun as hell. Janesville is a place of boredom. Us high schoolers go to Walmart, the strip mall, or a park for fun in the damn hell hole.
What I love most about it is that it’s a place for living with no regrets and living for the moment. Don’t hesitate, just do it. Once I grow up, I’ll move away and always have stories to tell about good ol’ Janesville. And if there was anything I could change about it, is where it’s located on a map. I sure as hell wish it was closer to Rochester, NY. My love and I met a year ago online, I’m finally meeting him in 10 days. Flying there and staying at his house for 10 days. The day I fly, I will not be able to function. We have a checklist to do:
- Niagara Falls
- Concert
- Star gazing
- Amusement park
- Hiking
- Park/picnic
- iPod switching
- Cuddle
- Etc.
Just to name a few!
But yeah, that’s my home. Shitty, but it’s what I live for and now.
— R
Ryli, thank you for your honest response. I hope you have a lovely and safe trip to New York! I’ll be writing you soon. :)
