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January 11, 2009 |
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Dear Cherisse
FOUND by Erin Firsby
in Chicago, IL
Found on a side walk in a gutter under the El tracks near Chicago and Franklin.
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No Distress May 23, 2006 |
Blue Whale June 10, 2007 |
Sike! February 01, 2006 |
Up to Your Liking April 20, 2003 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
Could not or would not? It's sweet that a friend cried over a friend's deceit towards their mother. How lucky to get golf balls in the deal!
A gift of golf balls? What a cheapskate. Go walk around in the woods near any golf course - or even take a dip in one of the water hazards - and you'll find a virtually limitless supply of free golf balls. Run them through one of those little ball-washer contraptions, and they're good as new. She probably gave him Poland Spring bottles refilled from the faucet, too.
What is the relationship between the writer and Cherisse? Sister, aunt, stepmom? What happened between mom and Cherisse that young writer couldn't tell mom s/he was at her apartment?
I always thought Titleist golfballs were pronounced "tit least."
I'm guessing that the author is Cherisse's younger sister. Maybe she ran away from home to her sister's apartment while all the while Cherisse thought her mother knew where her sister was.
Good golf balls are expensive anymore.
Soo funny- my PDX friend and I were just talking about reclaiming/selling golfballs from the waters around Portland's golf courses.
This Find makes me think of the Jerry Garcia (/Robert Hunter) song, Reuben and Cherise..
.."If you could see my heart you would know it true
There's none Cherise, except for you, except for you."
I agree with Student in the dorms. They ran away and didn't tell the mom where they were going. Maybe the mom thought Cherisse knew that her sister (or whatever) ran away and didn't tell her on purpose so she flipped out on her making her cry.
I'm sorry for the way things are in China,
I'm sorry things aren't the way they're supposed to be,
but more than anything else, I'm sorry for myself,
But thanks for the golf balls.
At this minute there are two golf balls in my back yard. I do not know where they came from. But I think maybe the neighbors were playing catch with their dog and it got out of control and the balls landed on the wrong side of the fence.
Yep. Me too.
cerise = cherry
cher = dear
And, FWIW, cherir=to cherish. So possibly Cherisse is a way of calling the child Cherish without sounding like a golden oldie tune.
At first reading I thought it was written by a guy who got caught spending some "quality time" with Cherisse at her apt when the mother or whoever wasn't there. Mom comes home early and--surprise! Mom goes into orbit, Boy goes out the door, and it all ends in tears.
But neither this nor the runaway sister scenario fits with "Thank you for all you did for us." Let alone golf balls. Gives one furiously to think.
BTW: Do tennis balls still come sealed in tins? And why do they?
The author of the note is obviously Cherisse's Father. I don't know what he did to make her cry, but it gives greater sense to the golf balls, if you know what I mean.
My speculations, in story form:
Let's call the author "Johnny" - for some reason (projection?) I think it's a boy who wrote the note.
Johnny's mom and dad, "Sue" and "Jim," got, or are getting, a divorce. Somewhere along the line, Jim started seeing Cherisse. Probably Cherisse is part of the reason for Jim and Sue's divorce. Whether it's because Cherisse represents Jim's infidelity, or simply the indisputable end of the marriage, Sue LOATHES Cherisse.
Of course, Jim has visitation rights; when he picks Johnny up on the weekends, they frequently go play around on the golf course - then they usually go over to Cherisse's apartment for dinner, or to pick her up and go out. (Jim and Cherisse aren't living together.)
This particular weekend was something special having to do with Johnny... his birthday? elementary school graduation? some sort of rite of passage... Cherisse busted her ass to give Johnny a wonderful celebration. She decorated the whole apartment in Johnny's favorite motif, and asked Jim what Johnny's favorite foods were and made sure to have plenty of them on hand. She bought CDs of Johnny's favorite music and invited a few of his school friends to join them as well.
When Jim brought Johnny to Cherisse's apartment after their traditional golf-time, the party began, and a wonderful time was had by all - until Sue called for Johnny. (On Jim's cell, or maybe Johnny has his own.) "Hi, Johnny," Sue/mom said, "I just wanted to see what you and your dad are up to."
Johnny knows that if mom finds out that he and Jim/dad are at Cherisse's house, she's going to bust a gut. So... he lies: "Oh, nothing, we're just sitting around dad's place. I'm really bored. There's nothing good going on around here."
Maybe Sue/mom pushes it a little bit: "What did you and your dad do today? Did you go see that woman, what's her name, Clarissa or whatever?" Then, out of spite and insecurity, Sue/mom might add, "I know you and your dad like spending all your time with *her*."
Johnny's in the spotlight. He knows his mom is hurting and knows that what he says might make it worse... or better. Everyone's being quiet so Sue doesn't hear the party noises, which means that Johnny's words are crystal clear to everyone when he says, "Nah, we haven't seen *her* - and I don't even like her anyway."
Maybe Cherisse understands what's behind Johnny's comment, but even so, it hurts... a lot. She's really knocked herself out to be kind and loving to Johnny, and for him to say something like that in her hearing... well, she can't help but be hurt. She puts the beautifully wrapped box of golf balls on the table for Johnny to open, along with the card that says, "Hope you and your dad have years of fun playing golf together!", and slips off to her bedroom to cry.
Johnny feels a little ill, but what can he do? He mutters a few more words to his mom, then hangs up, but it's too late - everything's awkward now, everyone feels a little dirty for having witnessed Cherisse's embarrassment. Jim/Dad puts on his jovial voice, and the party comes to a hasty and forced end shortly thereafter. Johnny sits on Cherisse's sofa and looks at the beautiful wrapping paper, the decorations, the food and drinks... He walks over to where Jim/dad is sitting, staring out the window, and quietly he asks, "Dad? Can I have a piece of paper and a pen? I need to write something to Cherisse."
Usually I just enjoy the voyeuristic thrill of reading Found, but this item - whether my scenario above is accurate or not - has really hit home for me.
I'm going to save this image, and I hope I never forget what I've learned from it - for my sake, but especially for my son's.
@ e
Wow
...also thank you for the box of chocolates. Life is like that...
e - what a sad story. hope that's not the case. great imagination!
When I read this, I figured they were friends, and he couldn't tell his mum that he was at cherisse's apartment because she wasn't white, and his mother was a racist bigot...When Cherisse found out why he couldn't tell his mom where he was...she cried, because she hadn't yet experienced being prejudiced yet...So the boy was like, "F THIS, I'm gonna tell her to shove it, if it makes you feel like this."
And maybe, he told his mom that cherisse cried and he's gonna leave cause he can't handle her racist comments any more, and mom is like "noooo don't leave! I'm not racist anymore, I swear!" -hence the thanks for everything you did for us part of the note- "and.....uh, thanks for the golfballs" That he didn't really like, but whatev.
It made me have hope for the future, that a kid didn't fall into his parent's ignorant beliefs.