Amanda Seyfried’s Letters To Juliet: Who Am I? Have you ever seen the movie Letters to Juliet? It is a movie about a girl, who in a low point in her life, finds a letter in a wall while aboard in Italy. This letter was written years earlier and shocked the girl, played by Amanda Seyfried, to her very core. This letter ends up bringing her on a journey where she finds happiness. My story is much like this one, except it takes place on college move in day, the letter was from my mom, and I found it while she was still in my room.
Other than these few differences Amanda and I go on very similar journeys—minus the gorgeous Italian who haves the day. My parents and I left Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 8:00am with Bethel University as the destination. We packed my mom’s Ford Explorer as full as it could possibly go knowing that we would still need to buy more once we reached the cities. The four-hour drive seemed much longer than usual. My nerves were making seconds feel like minutes, and minutes seem like hours, but nonetheless, we made it to Arden Hills earlier than expected. Leave it to Dad to get somewhere with more than enough time to know what to do with.
Once we pulled on to the infamous Freshman Hill, around noon, and were swarmed with thousands of students eager to move my life into B311. At this point in my life, I was not use to being surrounded by that many people at once, so it is safe to say that my nerves escalated through the roof. I come from a high school with a graduating class of 65, so to see what could be 5 of my high schools put together in one place was unreal. My stuff was moved in by the time that I was able to climb the three flights of stairs to what I would soon become my home. My roommate was already in there so we awkwardly exchanged ellos but our parents eased the tension with meaningless conversation about home and their other kids.
Through the entirety of time I was stressed out, more than I think I ever have been in my life. Everything seemed to upset me; I was not having a positive experience with my move in. Time flew by quicker than expected and it was 2:00 pm before we knew it, and it was time for a break to go and get lunch and school supplies. This timeout in the action was meant to ease my unsettled nerves and mind, but I ended up feeling more uneasy. When I become this way, I am a difficult person to communicate with, both my body and emotions shut down.
My parents began to notice this and attempted to encourage me with cliche sayings about how exciting this day should be for me. This made me feel even worse, I began to question if I was doing something wrong. Was everyone having a good move in experience except for me? Why did I let unrealistic scenarios of not making friends or failing all of my classes dictate the way that this day was supposed to excite me? By 4:00pm everything but my nerves seemed to come together. My pictures were hung. My bed was made. My desk was organized. My life should have been in order, but it wasn’t. Something was wrong.
I had taken my confusion about my emotions out on my parents in an expression of anger. I would yell at Mom for no reason and say passive aggressive comments Dad. I depicted every aspect that a teenage drama queen portrays in a sappy chick flick. I did not like the person that I was acting like during this time, but I was too scared to channel my emotions to anything else. I wanted to get out of the room. I decided that I would wash my face so I could try and wash the emotions away Around 4:30pm I grabbed a towel from the stack that my mom had folded and neatly placed above my clothes and something fell down with the gray hand towel.
It was a cream colored 5×7 envelope with “Mary Elizabeth” written on it with beautiful cursive from my mother’s hand. I decided that she probably wanted me to wait and open it until she was gone so I put it back and waited. Just seeing this and knowing that she was thinking about me had already lifted my spirits. When 5:00 came around and it was time for Mom and Dad to go I not quite back to my normal self, but I knew that as soon as I went back up to my room and read the letter that I would be okay.
We said our goodbyes, mom cried, dad pretended to not to be emotional and I thanked them both for their part in making me who I was and getting me to college. No later than 5:10pm my parents were on the road home to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and I was running up the stairs to see what my mom’s note said. I am not sure if I have ever run up those stairs so fast, but I know that I would never put myself through that kind of pain again unless I knew that there was another one of my mom’s notes in my room. I grabbed the note from the pile of towels and carefully ripped it open.
The first thing I noticed about the letter was how beautiful Mom’s hand writing was, she usually only writes in cursive when writing important letters so I was flattered that my mother used her beautiful talent for me. As I started to read her delightfully itten note, my nerves and emotions seemed to still and tears started to stream down my face. She knew the words that I needed to hear, she knew the emotions that needed to be settled and she wrote truth that caused me to stop and ponder our relationship.
Mom’s words, whether written or spoken have always had a power to ease my soul to its core. Mom and l’s relationship is a constant, ever-changing, work in progress. We were never best friends like you see in Gilmore Girls, but that does not that she does not love me any less than Lorelai loves Rory. Mom has an unconditional love for me that I tend to take advantage of, she understands that I am emotional and scared person. Mom takes the anger that I occasionally express towards life and turns it into more love for me. It has taken me over 18 years, and one move into college to realize that.
Reading Mom’s letter was a metaphor for the role and person that she plays in my life. She knows what I need, when | need it, and exactly how to give it to me, even from 250 miles away. Today, 12:55pm, 7 months after finding Mom’s note, her wise words still resonate with me. She writes, “Stay close to God and he will stay close to you. (James 4:8) Remember how much God loves you and also how much Dad and I love you! Remember that Dad and I are always here for you not matter what! You can call or text us any time of day or night.
You can also come to us with anything because we love you unconditionally. ” The support that my mom offers to me in this short except from her letter is more surprising than the letter that Amanda Seyfried found. Her encouragement reminds me that I am better than the diva in movies. And the love that Mom shows is more worth more than anything, including the love shown between Lorelai and Rory. I know this because she ends the letter by saying something that she tells me every time I talk to her, both by her actions and words, “I love you with all my heart! “
