I never really understood, when people older than me would refer to times in the past as, "other lifetimes." I would ask questions like, "did you really dance under the pale moonlight in your birthday suit?" And the response would be "that was not even me, it was another lifetime…"
Funny enough, I am starting to refer to times in my past as other lifetimes. Seemingly so long ago, that the experiences are mere memories. The events not even tied to me.
I was rushed into one such memory today. Prompted by the most interesting find.
I was thrifting not long ago and came across this book. I usually buy most art books that I find. I just adore them…
Only this book held secrets. Secrets that someone never new of. The book must have been taken off a shelf and tossed into a junk pile… It contained two love letters to a woman named Genevieve. The only thing was that, Genevieve was married… One of the letters was simply tucked insde. There were also little articles taped into the book here and there…
The second letter was taped to the inside back cover. The letters were from a man who stated how much he adored this woman. Yet he understood she had a life and would not cause her any problems. He admired her cooking, her words, her intelligence…. Wow, I thought, what a secret to be tucked away in a book. A book that gets into the hands of some kookie girl in Tucson, Arizona in the year 2007.
I love such finds. They make my imagination soar. I always think that I am the best person to find such items. As I relish in them. Adoring each find.
I was looking at this book yesterday evening again. Which is probably why my mind held on to the thought and I woke up with a memory of something that happened to me. Something so ironic, it throws me into a fit of butterflies in my stomach.
That leads me to a story that goes something like this…
In 1994 there was this 18 year old girl named Vanessa Valencia. Only, she was a different Vanessa. One from another lifetime 😉
She was fun-loving and quite the party girl. She didn’t pay much attention to the boys her own age. However, there was one boy that she knew since elementary school. He was a doll and she always had a bit of a distant crush on him throughout the years. However, once she got to be in highschool, she didn’t much pay attention to him. She was in her own little world oblivious to the world around her…
There was an incident that caused him to give her a greeting card at a very busy event. The girl handed the card to her mother, without reading it, and went on with the night… She had contact with the boy throughout that night, and he acted so funny. She wondered why he was acting so strange. However, the night continued to unravel, there was a huge party… She forgot the whole thing. The school year was finally over, and so was highschool.
She went on with her life. Not even looking back at the past. Not even thinking about her life in that little town. She wanted nothing of it. She wanted to move on, have new experiences and forget all the people she once knew…
One day, in her second year at University, she was desperate to find a piece of information to use for a speech she had to give in her Speech& English class. She sat on her bed, doing her toes, putting on coat after coat of lipgloss… Reading an old issue of Vogue magazine…
She never got rid of magazines and had piles of them. As she flipped through the pages of this older issue..
A big envelope appeared. She looked at it perplexed. It had never been opened. She quickly ripped it open. It was a big sparkly card. Handwritten on the inside were words that went something like, "I have been in love with you for many years. I am using this evening to tell you that, I love you. If you have any feelings towards me, give me a sign tonight."
She read it over and over. Shocked, shocked, shocked! What?? What??? How could this be? How could she have not seen this for two years? She called her mother. Her mother said, "Oh Sweetie, you didn’t want any of your cards that night, so I put them in a magazine for you when I got home."
It was the most ironic & unbelievable thing that had ever happened to her…
Today as I walked early in the brisk morning, I thought about that girl. The girl I used to be. All the different paths I had been led on. I struggled to try to remember that night 13 years ago. His face. I remembered he had grabbed my hand, and I thought, "Wow, this is weird." But the rest of the night was blank…
Boy, did I have a story for that speech class the next day. It was about irony and paths… So many keys, and so many doors… And the clock ticks on… Other lifetimes, other people. People we were, people we will become…
Do you ever stop and chuckle? Do you feel memories swell in your throat? I love thinking about these things. I have no regrets and I can peacefully lay in the grass, looking through the tress, up at the sky… Thinking and chuckling… Happy and delighted that I am where I am. On this little path I am on…
I’m speechless. That was stunning.
Fabulous story. I just love your blog.
Wow wow wow!!!! What a memory! What a book find! That is crazy cool about those letters and you are the perfect one to have found them.
I love the button you made for your website 🙂
I have no regrets. I may think I could have done things a little different, or better, but never regret the out-come. I would not be here, where I am today. Not that it is an envious place to be. I am not famous, don’t have a lot of $$, and things like that.But I am very loved, very happy, and very content. I know who I am, and even if I don’t know where I am going, I am gonna have a fun trip. I had another life, long ago. I don’t think about it much, but I don’t regret it. I lost a lot of me there, but it gave me Richard and Victoria. Your story reminds me of the guy who asked me to marry him, and we had only gone on one date, about 3 or 4 months before. I had told him no(I was planing my wedding to another guy at the time.Who I didn’t end up marring.) and for 2 or 3 months he sent me flower, and cards ….. I found some of the card when I moved in Nov last year. How crazy. I didn’t even know I had kept them.What a great find, in a book. I know, it’s a long winded post, but I am no short breeze!;)
Love Erin~
Poor boy!
Keys and times…
Time is a big key, and it’s open a lot of doors for me too…
Fortunately !
Oh….Your story is so lovely and it makes my stomach twist with butterflies, too! I often wonder about fate and whether or not I really do believe in such a force….do we really have control of our lives or are we being lead by some greater plan or path….or is it some even more mysterious mixture of the two that we could never comprehend!? I sometimes regret things in the past, things I had the opportunity to do put did not, or people I parted with….but then I think of where I am now; the person I am now….and I realize I would not be here without all of the choices and motions I made in the past…..it’s quite mind boggling…and I start to feel like I’m pondering the stuff of stars and distant galaxies when I think on it. (I think I may be straying from making any sense now!):)
I love stopping in here….I love how your posts always make me think….make me feel!
Have a lovely weekend, Miss magical Twist!
how amazing…is took my breath away….see, how strange life is, I wonder where that boy is now…the last time I wondered about a boy I went in search and found my bubs…many years after I had least seen him.
this is something out of a movie.
also, finding love notes in an old book like that. BEAUTIFUL!!!
oh…
i am simply enchanted
by the lovely mix of stories.
well done
and
yes,
a movie:
you are writing the story of your book-findings
and there are flashbacks
and then you find your vogue-card
and then
and then…
yes, a romantic love-story.
🙂
well, for me you do not need
to make the movie
as i already see it in my head
as you have so perfectly started it.
thanks ever so…
carry on…
What a great story! I often think about fate and how things always happen for a reason somehow or another, even if you don’t realise it until many years later – especially where men are concerned!
I love finding things in old books…like Griffin & Sabine… I have to believe that you were meant to find that book, with those letters…beautiful story!
Thank you for making each day magical!
Wow … finding the love letters .. and your story of the card tucked away!!! Beautiful!! Do you ever wonder what happened to him? I just met up with a friend I lost touch with for 30 years .. we were best friends when we were very little… now 30 years later by a twist of fate we are reunited… I have no regrets in my life but often wonder .. what if…
Dear love all the same things twin,
I adore vintage peacocks and spy one hanging over the bed in this post…is it a vintage print, something old, something new? Beautiful!
That is amazing that you didn’t get to read the card until so much later. The poor guy! He must have had his heart broken…with no sign from you, not even an eye-lash flutter in his direction!! 😉
What an amazing little story…I wonder what happened to that boy? Isn’t it incredible the little “near misses” we have in all of our lifetimes? Other side paths we could have taken? I wonder even for a moment, if we had dared journey on any of the sideroads would we find ourselves in the same place that we are today?
What a romantic and amazing story Vanessa. Did you ever hear from that boy again?
I think you need to make a painting called, “Genevieve and her Pursuer” or something of the like.
ohh all your little stories are so charming. I think the magical things find you because you’re a lucky star..perhaps a multicoloured zooming one.
It is interesting and bittersweet to look back at all of the maybe paths…but when you’ve got a strong sense of yourself you can always find the right way….even if it does zigzag and swirl around.
beam beam x
This story is so wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. That poor boy, although it is a good story. And that book you found….that’s amazing. How come the thrift stores here in NJ never have anything exciting like that?! haha
oh vanessa. your brain makes my heart soar…this is a beautiful, sparkly gem. thank you!
I love finding old love letters and notes; if someone bothered to keep them, rather than throwing them away, they meant something special. And your own story is very romantic, if sad for the would-be love who was waiting for your answer and no doubt bewildered when he was ignored. 🙂 xoxox
i weep as i read…we are so connected…i found my letter in a pile after my mother dies in 2000…it was written in 1967…i never knew…never could respond to that shy declaration of a boy from my childhood…i, too, buy every art book i encounter…i too hoard magazines…i awoke in the early morning this day to look up at my palm trees, dark against the star-filled night sky…i smile…blessings, rebecca
VeeVee,
How incredibly lucky for Mr. Lovee…that was a lovely story.
Oh Vanessa! I let out a huge “awww!” when you wrote out the contents of that card…that is so darling
I love it when I find things in books.
I’ve been adding all kinds of things to books before I give them away for years. Just hoping it would make someone smile when they find the treasure.
Great story – I really enjoy reading your blog! I’ve never found anything in a book except a shopping list, but I do love old letters. I have one from a man to his wife that is really amusing to read. Fun stuff!
Most adorable looking girl, I am not surprised about that boy falling in love with you. I think all of your readers are a little in love with you. What sweet stories.
A story within a story…I loved it! I wonder where that boy is today and if he ever thinks of his unrequited love for you {sigh}…
And equally sad, the man in love with the married woman. Who knows what could have become of them if they had been able to be together. Would she have had a fabulous life with this man who adored her?
I wonder how these “other lifetimes” ended up for the boy who never knew you never saw his card, and the couple who weren’t able to see where their feelings might take them. Genevieve obviously cared for him as well since she saved his letters.
Btw…I love the chandelier hanging in your tree!
You are so lucky to find secret notes from a guy who was in love with you, tucked in a magazine, not to mention discovering secret letters from mysterious man in a thrift shop book!
What great stories, the letters, so romantic! And your poor teenage boy! It sent me down memory lane to think of that girl I used to be another lifetime ago. It is fun to think back on past life like that, but oh, poor boy makes you think of your teen-age self and hurts your heart just a little doesn’t it?
Oh my gosh, chills!! Life is so freaky and ironic all balled up into one massive cocktail party isn’t it?
You’ve brought tears to my eyes….and I don’t know why…thank you
What a story. I feel sorry for the poor boy though.. what a heart-breaker you are! 🙂
how romantic stories!what happened to that boy?did you see him ever again?
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!!!!
This could be a movie!!!!
Such a wonderful….
Goosebump kind of story!!!!!
What ever happened to the sweet young boy????
OH MY GOSH!!!!
Oooo…what became of that heart broken young man? Do you wonder? Do you want to find him just to know?
The best story/stories come about here. Maybe you should write and illustrate books!Even your name would look cool on a cover! ‘Vanessa Valencia’- it’s not a Joe Shmoe name (sorry Bleu).
D.
what a gorgeous find – and how wonderful for it to fall into your hands…someone who appreciates it and wont just throw it away! how sad would that have been?
love the story about your own love letter…i too tuck things into books…notes, drawings receipts – its fun to find months and years later!!
no love letters for me though..I went to an ‘all girl’ high school, plus I was terribly shy with the boys…
Oh Donna. LOL!
The Shmoo here…Ahem. Well, this reminds me of Nick Bantok’s series, about Griffin and Sabine. Totally cool. I’m going to blog about it, thanks for the inspiration!
Poor fellow who wrote the note, yet good thing for your man today!!!
xo
Blue
Oh yes, and how cute were you? Geez. What a cutie pie!
xo
Blue
What a wonderful find in that book, but oh dear that poor boy. Too think if you had opened that card your whole life would may have been different.
The twists and turns, how one thing leads to another. The discovery of something new wells up memories of old…fascinating story, and yes, I agree with everyone else, who wouldn’t fall in love with you? 🙂 So happy that there’s no regrets and you can chuckle at times past…Someone should make a movie of your life 🙂
Wonderful memory! The stuff movies are made of!! I hope it stays with you forever.
I am all teary eyed here,wow what a story.As I told you before dear sweet Vanessa you are truly gifted in telling stories (and your art ofcourse)please please get out that gypsy wagon of yours and travel around the world and tell everybody your amazing tales!
xoxo
Wow, I just found your blog and so glad I did.
Firstly the story of the book you found was wonderful, I was staring at my screen as I read it with wonder, I would love to find something like that tucked away in a book.
Then I went on to read the wonderful story you told, how sad for the boy.
I will be visiting again.
Racheal x
what treasures…..
it’s always interesting to look and think backward and forwards…..
xo
oh the paths we traverse! should we have zigged when we should have zagged? I must trust in the kismet that has cradled my world.Oh the stories I could share!
PS
Love that adorable pic of you!
A Jane moment that gives me goosebumps up and down my spine. What a discovery.
XOX
Kristen
What a great story!!! And what a wondeful find in that old book!!! It’s like finding a secret life!!! I have alway liked the saying “if these walls could talk..” In this case I guess the words “If these pages could talk…” would be most fitting!!!