The Prompt:
For each of the following people, choose 1 book, 1 song, and a brief piece of advice to leave them. Explain why you chose the pieces that you did.
- 2 close friends
- 2 family members
- 2 fellow bloggers
- 2 ex-friends/significant others
- 2 younger people in your life (10 or more years younger than you)
close friends:
- N: you're in this category because you are my closest friend. you are my best friend. the song i'm including in your care package is the fray's "look after you", because this will be our first dance on our wedding night. i hear it, and i think of you. the book i'd like to give you is my "lord of the rings" trilogy, because you understand my need to re-read and re-watch things over and over, and you don't seem to mind sitting there while i do it. the one piece of advice i'd give you is this: you will never fully understand women. but that doesn't mean you should stop trying.
- L. over in colorado: because i miss you so much sometimes, i'm sending you israel kamakawiwa'ole's "white sandy beach of hawaii". it makes me think of home, and when i think of hawaii, i think of you too. hope you always know that a part of you always stays in hawaii with a part of the quints. i'm not sure what sort of books you're reading these days, but i'm re-reading dan brown's "angels and demons" and am really enjoying it. since you're meandering your way through faith, i thought it would be a fun read for you too. and i think your fortune cookie will say: the physical distance between friends is really no distance at all.
family members:
- my younger sister: for you, i'll send the divinyls' "i touch myself". strange, i know. but i'm sending it because i'm worried that, with all of the difficult changes you're facing in your life right now, you're not remembering to have enough fun. and if nothing else, this song is fun! i'll also send you elizabeth gilbert's "eat, pray, love". i can't honestly say that i think you'll enjoy it, but i do think you can get something out of it. and my advice to you is this, little sister: we are only as happy as we make ourselves. if you're not happy in your own skin, don't be afraid to make the necessary changes until you are. take chances. that's what life is about.
- my oldest step sister: in your care package would go carrie underwood's "so small", because the message is something i think you could relate to better than most. in terms of a book, i would most likely include haunani-kay trasks "from a native daughter". this book changed the course of my life. it taught me how important the work i could do may be, and it also showed me that i can disagree with theories but still agree with principles. hopefully, it can do the same for you. the piece of advice i'd put in your fortune cookie would be this: the battles you've faced so far have only made you stronger. don't be afraid to be yourself in the future.
blogging friends: (okay, i'm kind of cheating here, since some of my closest friends also blog)
- B. over at isn't she pretty in pink: for you, i'd send bonnie tyler's "total eclipse of the heart", along with a little note requesting that you listen to it (loudly) while in your car at an intersection, and lip-sync it desperately to the person in next car over. in terms of a book (you know it's coming), i would give you my copy of "twilight", and make you sit down and actually read it! it'll take you like, 2 hours! and though you're usually the one giving me advice, let me just say: you do not have to stay on the path you chose 3 years ago. do what makes you happy.
- K. over at the artist in the ambulance: i can't send you many songs you don't already have and listen to regularly (particularly since you're the one usually sending me the songs that i listen to!), so i'm pulling something out from our hazy hana-bata days, and sending you nsync's "tearin' up my heart". while our music taste may not have been as undeniably awesome as it is now, i'm not sure i've ever had as much fun as i had with you and the girls during those days. instead of a book, i would send you an I.O.U. for the one i hope to write one day. you will get one of the first five copies, hands down. i'll even autograph it. and my sparkling words of wisdom: there is no rule saying where one should be in their life "by now". continue to live the way you choose, with happiness as your goal and friends by your side. things will happen when they should.
ex's:
- J. (the bff from the sixth grade): though i would never actually send you a care package, if i had to, i'd include mariah carey's "always be my baby", because it was part of the last good memory i think you and i had. i have no idea who you are now, and no idea what happened to cause that. but i no longer care either. we were kids, we're not anymore. the book i'd send you would probably be our slam books (which are in storage somewhere), because i definitely don't need them. and my advice is this: burning your bridges leaves you with less places to go.
- K. (although you don't really qualify as an ex, since we never really went out): i'm not sending you a song i think you'd like. i'm sending you back a song you thought i'd like, along with my memories of random nights listening to music in your car, being sympathetic as you bitched to me about the girlfriend you'd never leave (though you told me you would), and waiting for your phone call the next morning after i knew you went to see her. so you can have beyonce's "that's how you like it" back. it wasn't that good anyway. as for a book, i'd send you tucker max's "i hope they serve beer in hell", because though i may be mad on some level, we left each other on good terms, and i think you'd find it funny. my advice? don't marry her. you don't really want to.
young'ns:
- my 4 year-old nephew: in your care package, i would include brooke fraser's "seeds" as my song to you, because i love you, and i worry. the book i would send to you would be a book of hawaiian legends. though i know you'll get your fill of it one day, it's never too early to start. and my advice would be this: don't grow up too fast. you'll have your whole life to be mature and adult...live freely and have fun.
- my 10 month-old niece: for you, i'd send a fine frenzy's "lifesize", because for such a tiny girl, you are larger than life. this song is positive and sweet, and so many more of the things i hope your life will be one day. in your care package, i'd also put sophie kinsella's "confessions of a shopaholic", because i want you to know, early on, that books (and life) can be fun and silly, and it's completely okay to want that. just don't go into credit card debt! my advice (aside from the credit card debt thing) is this: don't follow in anyone's footsteps. make your own, regardless of what your well-meaning family may say.
