Letters

Sara-4 letters; Jim-3 letters; Gina-4; ; Sandy-5. Average letters in a name of a child growing up in my neighborhood in the 70's-4 letters. Sounds trivial, doesn't it. But when I went to kindergarten and practiced spelling my name, I was at a distinct disadvantage due to my name:
K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E-9 letters. I wasn't an outcast nor did I get placed in the slow-learner group due to my lengthy name; however, somehow I just felt out of place. All of those insecure feelings changed when I met a new friend in first grade. She lived close to my neighborhood, so we road the bus together to Ralph R. Reeder Elementary school. With backpacks on our laps and school lunch boxes safely stowed at our feet, we traveled the fifteen minutes across suburbia to our school. As we traveled, we spelled each other's name. It was a revelation. She, too, had 9 letters in her name: D-O-M-I-N-Q-U-E! Oh what fun we had saying our names, spelling our names, and counting the letters in our names. There was nothing trivial about the letters in our name. Those letters were the basis to our friendship.
I kept my faith and hope in Santa Clause until I was twelve years old due to Dominique. She wrote a letter that was published in the Star Tribune newspaper inquiring about the reality of Santa. Due to the editor's sort of a "Yes, Virginia" response to her letter, I could not bring myself to doubt the magic of Santa. Each December I would slip the article out from my Mother's desk and reread the newprint to be reminded of the faith required to believe in something and someone who seems contrary to fact, to possiblity, to reality. I held onto my childish desires and wishes for as long as I could. Much of this was due to a letter and someone's acknowledgment of that letter.
A letter can convey a lot. We form our names and our identities with letters. We send our love and our concerns in letters. A letter can give us a connection. Take a look at someone who seems different from you and see if you can find just one thing you have in common. You might not have to try too hard; just for starters, we all have letters that make up our names. Who knows, you might just make a new friend or maybe you'll have a part of your faith renewed.