Dear Anonymous,

To: Pretty Shoelaces

October 4
Dear Anonymous,

   You confuse me, in the best possible way of course, but you're confusing nonetheless.

You take so many hits from other people. It seems like everyone is always trying to knock you down, but you don't let them. Instead you prove them wrong. You make your actions speak louder than your words.

   Today you made me feel better about myself, which was something I really needed.

I felt stupid today. I couldn't get anything right. It seemed like math was going to drive me to the brink of insanity. It seemed like everyone had gotten a better score than me on a certain test. PE was probably the worst though.

   Today was mile day. I was dreading it but I just wanted to get it over with. I was running with one of our friends and I just couldn't keep up for the life of me, so I pushed myself too hard.

I couldn't feel myself breathing and I thought I was going to throw up, so I told our coach and he told me to stop and sit down in the shade. Around the same time, you finished your mile run, in six minutes.

I was sitting on the grass, trying not to cry, or get sick for that matter. You sat down next to me and asked me if I was okay. I replied honestly, "No." You sat there silently for another minute or so and then told me not to worry too much about the run. You then proceeded to talk to me, trying to get me to smile.

I watched as the other kids finished: seven minutes, eight minutes, nine minutes, until our friend I was supposed to be running with finished her mile, ten minutes. I'm not sure why but that made me feel worse. Her ten minute mile was close to my all time best. I hate to admit it but I'm really bad at running. I'm athletic but I always feel like I hold people back when it comes to running.

You could tell that I wasn't feeling good and that I was embarrassed. You tried talking to our other friend but she was really out of breath and she had a headache.

You kept staring at me, like you were trying to figure out what to say. Then you finally spoke, "Can I make your shoelaces pretty?" I nodded.

Our friend had taught us how to tie our shoelaces in this really cool way and mine had come undone. You sat there and concentrated really hard on tying my shoes. You finished and they looked nothing like they were supposed to. You laughed and so did I. You then asked me if I was feeling any better, I said no, but then I changed my answer to a little. Then the dressing bell rang. You stood up, held out your hands, and helped me up.

   You are honestly one of my favorite people in my life. You always make me feel the slightest bit better. You'll never know how much I appreciate you and all that you do.

Sincerely,
Me