I decided it was time to take my outline and short scene I did for a writing workshop and finally make it into the novel I've talked about for many years. What makes this novel so special to me isn't the fact I'm doing it for NaNo, but the fact it is based on true events from my junior year of high school. The main character is a mirror of myself in that year. The emotions I felt when I lost my best friend have never wholly been shared. I have rarely (and very lightly) talked about this event to anyone. I have never faced down this time in my life and I hope during this process I finally heal completely.
A few words to my dear friend:
Dear Jennifer,
This is the first time in 20 odd years I have opened myself up since your passing. I think of you often and I have never forgot all the times we spent together. You truly were my best friend even though you left us all at such a young age. You were just stepping onto the path of life when it was suddenly and tragically brought to an end. You never attended Homecoming or Prom, Graduated from high school, went to college or raised a family with the man of your dreams. The hardest part I think was we all knew and called the person who stole your life...a friend too. None of us were ever the same in the end and to this day it still hunts me how someone so alive as you never had the chance to experience life to its fullest. It still seems so surreal.
I want you to know the book I begin this November is for you and you alone. Those who get the opportunity to read it are lucky as this is our story and how I know you would want me to tell it.
It's funny so many years ago you said I should become a writer and I laughed at you. You always loved my stories and poems. You really knew who I was even with I doubted and never realized it myself.
Your friendship has and always will be with me in my heart. You are always with me when I write. R.I.P and know your memory will live on not only in the hearts of those you touched, but in my work as well.