babysitting for Jamie

(Picture from left to right – Kathryn, Maureen, Erik, Kristina, Jamie, Delphine, Doug)

When I checked my mail today I was so pleased to see there was a letter from you Dan; I realised that we had lost contact for such a long time and I was so glad to get news from you and your family after all the good moments we had all spent together when I was younger!

But reading your letter was so painful to me. It came as such a shock to learn the news about Jamie; I can still recall the day when I arrived as your babysitter for Jamie, Doug and Kathryn, at Pelham Manor, back in the summer of 1986, I was just 15 and Jamie was around 8; we just got on so well from the very start, it never felt like working, all the time I was with the 5 of you; I just felt I was with family, looking after my younger brother and sisters! You were all so kind to me and the times I spent with you have marked me forever (maybe that’s why I now teach English to high school students, and am currently trying to start a project with New-Yorkers so I can help my students discover the world, like I did when I was their age….).

Well Jamie was so lively and cheerful; it was always so much fun being with her, I have kept such a dear memory of her! I have taken out the pictures I have kept of that time and so many good memories with Jamie are coming back to me (like sailing off the New York coast, skiing and freezing on the Vermont hills that Christmas you had invited me over, fooling around and diving in the pool, playing Trivial Pursuit at the Babbits’, watching Dirty Dancing over and over again and so many more…)! She was a great friend to me!

I’m sure she must have been the best of moms too and I would really have loved to meet her again, both as adults! From all the nice things I could read about her on her memorial website, I feel there would have been so much we could have shared, so many things we had in common…. It was just so moving to read about her married life with you Paul and seeing all the pictures of your lovely family; being on your website has greatly helped me to cope with the news, thanks for sharing that with me! I feel so close to you right now and truly hope that I can meet you all one of these days; if I come back to the States, I’ll try to get in touch with you and see if you have a couple of hours to spare me…

Maureen, Dan, Doug, Kathryn, I would just be so happy to see you again and meet your respective families; my house is big enough to accommodate you if you can make it to France one of these days…

In the meanwhile, please keep in touch with me!
Love
Delphine