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January 23, 2008 |
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Love, Margo
FOUND by Joanne Conrad
in Seattle, Washington
Found on the ground in a Costco parking lot.
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Hand in Mouth January 02, 2006 |
Good Meat January 19, 2003 |
Brusha Brusha Brusha! May 29, 2005 |
Give Craig Money October 01, 2005 |
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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...
I hope Margo is just bored.
"Pleass chong my life and git mee huked on foniks."
I wonder what could be so bad in this kid's life that she can't go on any longer? Maybe mom inflicted a punishment and ended it with something along the lines of, "I don't hate you, it's out of love," and now the little drama queen is throwing it back at her. I'd love to know the story behind this. :)
i want to say that margo's a brave little girl, but why is she TIERED of her life.
Can you change my life forever. I'm not saying this because I hate you, but because I love you.
I hope mom is able to make Margo's wish come true. I say this because I assume that Margo's wish doesn't necessarily revolve around whether or not she has enough my-little-ponies, but because of true, deep-seeded, important issues that maybe, just maybe, don't have to be... It sounds like mom is in a dark place.
This is really sad. :( I would hate to be the mom who presumably received this note.
Cute note, I hope everything worked out.
I remember writing a note along these lines to my mom, it was accompanied with a wish for her to divorce my Dad.
Megsley, that's interesting, because I was thinking that maybe Margo was begging her mom NOT to divorce her dad. But now that you mention it.. it makes more sense the other way. In any case, I hope it worked out in Margo's favor. Every kid deserves sane and stable parents (but not many get that.)
I'd want my life to change too if my name was Margo.
Seriously. Awful name.
I'm diggin the heart lips.
This is heartbreaking. Its obviously a little girl's writing, and for her to write something like this, there must be something really wrong. I'm thinking maybe her folks are getting divorced?
If she were still alive I could write that kind of note to my mom right now.
Wow...I'm astonished that a wee girl like this doesn't 'like' her life. She most likely hasn't lived more than 10-12 years?? Maybe less?
Very saddening...
Tragic and beautiful.
Margo is not an awful name. I'm totally naming my first daughter Margo.
How deeply saddening that this child recognizes a need for change at a point in her life where she probably has very little control of the things going on around her. Poor child. Are these the ones that slip through the cracks?
Heather: at least this little girl is able to put those feelings into words and get them out of her and onto paper. Some can't even do that.
Dear Mom,
I can't go on like this anymore; I am tiered of you buying everything in bulk. We have enough canned food to feed an army. Can you chang my life forever?
this kid's seriously sick of bulk foods.
I'm hoping the "change" she's looking for is enrollment in a better school. Whatever education she's getting right now, it's not working.
mmm. i think it goes a bit deeper than that.
this is really...strange. it doesn't seem sad to me for some reason, but i usually don't get that teary over founds. the comments usually get me a lot more. ANYWAY, i LOVE this, 'cause it's just so weird. of course, if she's serious, it's REALLY sad...but none of us are sure. (and if anyone who's reading this IS, PLEASE TELL US) so for now i'm going to not take it seriously and enjoy how cool and weird and vaguely amusing this find is. and i actually like the name Margo, too...hehe. and she does seem like a drama queen. drama queens rock. i just think that cuz i'm one, though!
It amazes me how many people think childhood is a wonderful time for children, and that children cannot experience real emotional pain.
It's not fun being a kid. I can very much relate to this note.
best comment of the week, becky in boston.
Been a rough week for the FOUND server! We're back up and doubling our efforts to keep things going. Enjoy the find! I love it...
Naamah - I agree with you. Being a little girl and learning to deal with life's harsh realities can be very depressing. I was a very depressed, Angst-filled teenager and I remember feeling like every bad time period in life would last forever. You don't have the insight of years behind you to put rotten times into context in your life. I hope Margo's mother helped her see past the little dark cloud over her head.
I would guess that Margo is in 2nd or 3rd grade at the time of writing this note. She's in ballet, tap, and jazz dancing, acting class, soccer, cheerleading, swimming, Karate, voice, piano and violin. Not to mention the intermittent auditions for Disney Channel original movies, commercials, and print ads for the Bon Macy's.
And between it all, she's lugged to and from Costco and Westlake Center and everywhere else mom needs to go. She has to do her homework in the car between commitments. She gets carsick. Mom doesn't care. She never sees her dad or her brother anymore. "it's not important. What's important is your future." Poor Margo.
I think Margo is tired of being Margo and need mom's help becoming Mark.
This breaks my heart! By her spelling and handwriting she can't be very old and she shouldn't be feeling like this...this is teenager stuff at the least. But she still loves her Mommy. Sad and sweet. I am going through divorce and this letter reminds me of what my oldest daughter tells me sometimes....and now I think I might cry a bit.....
She’s definitely asking for plastic surgery... or gastric bypass. The "change my life forever" line came from a radio ad for a bariatric surgeon.
thanks floating!
Someday you'll realize that it's better to have a multi-tiered life than a life that is moving along on one boring plateau.
Please, kid - don't let your mom Chang your life! That Chang is bad news. He'll fuck your life up something fierce.
I'm sure it's because alcoholism runs so deep in my family, and I've seen it's effect on the children of said alcoholics. So, that's what this note brings to my mind. It makes me unbearably sad.
So...let's hope that the real root of this tormented letter is that the girl child's parents wouldn't fork out a grand for Hannah Montana tickets.
I hope it was just a fight with her bff. That always seems like the end of the world for little girls. She probably had to ride the bus home alone while her bff Jill rode home with Brianna. Hope they made up.
This looks a lot like the letters children in DFACS custody are asked to write to a parent. The letter is supposed to show the effect a parent's addiction/problem has on their family. Just think of a small 6 or 7 year old girl living with a foster family because her Mom is messed up on Meth and the girl's case worker has asked her to write a letter to her Mom.
Wow, saddest find in a while. Poor Margo, I hope her mom wasn't a jackass about the note.
tori, going...
i wish it weren't so, but deep down, i feel it's some twisted combination of your conjectures.
Several Washington finds here recently. This note was so sad. Broke my heart. No child this young should feel that way.
This looks like a note a my daughter could have written. She is seven years old and full of drama. This note is not sad, but just an indication of the passion and creativity that mark little girls. Second grade is just full of drama - anyone else with a daughter that age knows just what I mean.
I am inclined to agree with Going Crazy: I worked as a tutor in an elementary school, and occasionally our kids in foster care would ask for help with similar letters.
Although that being said, my 6 year old niece recently asked her mother for diet pills because she was "tired of her life and being fat," and upon being denied used the argument "I love you and want to be pretty for you," so who knows... Childhood today has gotten weird.
I remember feeling like this because of my half siblings father. Eventually Mom did listen and ended the relationship and the siblings and I are doing wonderfully!
I sure hope Margo's mom got on top of that.
My mom never got me that pony that I had begged for each birthday and Christmas. I can assure you all that she did irreparable damage to me because of it. I'm almost twenty-seven years old and still I mourn for the pony I never got.
BTW- what in the hell's a Costco? We don't have them in the sunshine state... Is it like BJ's or Sam's Club?
SAD!
Oh, Margo. How I wish I had had the courage to write a note like this. True, it would have been completely misunderstood and misinterpreted and used against me for the rest of my life, but I wish I had written it anyway. I remember looking at my mother and thinking, "I don't want to be like you." And yes, things would have been so much better if they'd got the divorce when I was 15. At least the black clouds of violence and anger would have dissipated somewhat.
True, 12 years on this earth isn't long, but when they are unhappy, opressed years (and those who think childhood is always sunshine and roses have never been systematically abused), you do get "tired of your life" and wish it could be changed forever. But even though we think moms are strong and know everything when we're 12 and they're whatever age they are--they aren't always. They don't always know what to do. Life is not a TV show, you can't solve every problem in 22 or 44 minutes. Moms and dads are human.
Margo, stay in school, do your best, and maybe some day you can make a few lasting changes of your own. I did. Hard? Yes. Satisfying? Oh, definitely.
I got a pony growing up and look at me.
First Impression:
I wonder if Margo's mom gets beat by her alcoholic dad? I wonder if Margo is one of those super precocious 6 year olds that knows she needs to be medicated.
Second Impression:
Her grammar is giving me the shakes and her teacher should be fired.
Poor kid. Childhood *does* suck. I wouldn't go back if I could.
If this *is* a "cry for help" letter, her mother should be shot for losing it in a parking lot and not taking it to Margo's next shrink appointment.
If this is a drama queen letter, hopefully her mother did more than put her in the corner as punishment.
Do you think Margo left it out somewhere that friends could see it, making mom look horribly insensitive, and want to slip her a couple of bucks on the sly to cheer her up?
My dramatic notes always said, "my mom hates me because she wouldn't let me watch blah blah blah. I'm never leaving my room again."
Ah, youth.
I am really concerned that some many of our FOUND commenters had such a lousy childhood. I mean, mine was not all storybook, but I had fond memories of my childhood. Interacting with my daughter helps me remember the innocence of those times. I truly hope the majority of people did not have the dark childhood represented in these comments.
Holy group therapy, Batman! Barf-O-Rama!
Poor baby! The first thing I thought was this was an appeal to an addicted parent. It make my heart ache that children are so often caught up in adult situations at such an early age. As a parent, it's clearly your responsibility to try to shelter the innocence of their youth. They lose it quickly enough without you helping them along! A child's love is as close to unconditional love from another human being as you will ever find.
Even after all of Margo's pain, she wants things to change and be better because she LOVES her Mommy. I hope if this lady had an opportunity to make the change this child is pleading for, she was strong enough to do it. They put their little lives in your hand from the day they are born.
Maybe she's tired of having her favorite actors die before the age of 30.....like me. RIP Heath Ledger AND Brad Renfro.
Never getting that pony also caused me to have some invidious behaviors.
Pepper’s a poopy-pooperson!
HAHAHA this reminds me of the notebook my mom just found that belonged to me when i was almost eight years old. It must have been a school writing assignment or something that we did daily. But in one entry I wrote that i was being forced to sleep over my aunt's house and about how much i hated her. I actually wrote "my life is over" and the next entry about the same aunt, I wrote how excited I was that I was getting to sleep over her house. I dont even remember writing that stuff, so maybe this little girl feels the same way. Or maybe she dropped it in the parking lot not to give to her mom, but maybe she was actually QUOTING her mom?! who knows....
never thought about that-- maybe she is quoting her mom. Or maybe her mom should stop letting her watch Intervention at six years old. and everyone needs to stop commenting on her friggin' grammar, if she is six then EVERYONE spelled like that at that age, who do you people think you are? you're not genuis. that being said, if she was writing this at 18 then yes, we should all ask that margo be tested for an extra chromosome.
Whatever Margo's issues, I think it's wonderful that she still thinks her mom has the power to sort things out for her. The day I saw my parents as only human, flawed & not great at their own lives, was the day I had to start changing my own life forever. That was a sad day indeed.
JodaBabes, Costco is pretty much like Sam's Club: membership only, buy 10# cans of Jalapenos and 120 packs of black sharpies.
Tremendously overrated, IMO.
Oh, and invidious. Good Word!
I find this sad too, and it also reminds me of something I could've written. My parents divorced, my mother remarried my stepbastard (can I say that on here?) moved me across the country and it all happened in less than a year. I felt lost and insecure and I just wanted things to change- but for the way they used to be.
Back then, nobody thought a child could be depressed. You are told you are too young to feel that way. I would hope that parents today would be more enlightened, but from what I see around me, that is not the case!
Now I wish I could protect my own children from that feeling, but I can't. Going full circle, my own children could've written that note. Now I know how helpless my own mother must have felt, and maybe that's why she hid her head in the sand for so long.
However, as was mentioned earlier- maybe she just wanted Hannah Montana tickets. We can only hope!
I'm just your little bluebird of happiness!!
This sounds like something my nine year old would write. She is a total drama queen. Being a kid, in today's world is really hard. Once you get our of kindergarten and first grade, the real world of school and life begin. The teachers aren't so nurturing, and you're not a baby anymore, but not a big kid, either. All three of my kids hit a snag when they turned about eight, and had a rough time, for a while. It just takes xtra love and nurturing to get them through it.
i hope this child is just disappointed, and not clinically depressed and suicidal. I hope her mom listened.
there is so much more i could say, but i dont want the vultures eating me alive.
oops, i meant OUT of kindergarten.
I have to agree with nadine in the car. This is a typical note from a 7yr old girl in second grade. My oldest daughter is 7, in 2nd, and writes notes like this almost as often as she writes notes that say "Mom, I love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love you and Dad and Dylan and Natalie and Briena and Isabell and you are the best family ever" or "Mom, can I please please please please please please please please go to Grace's house and if I can I will be the happiest person in the whole whole whole whole world!"... you get used to it when one minute you are getting the love or please note, then two minutes later you get the "I do not like my life. I wish we had a bigger house and more clothes with diamonds on them and a big park in the yard"...
I am guessing that Margo was just pleading for an item from Costco, which Mom sensibly said no to, so Margo wrote this little note while mom was loading the van. (they can write amazingly fast!)... though the added line of "can you chang my life" is a bit unsettling...
does anyone here agree with me that the materialism of our culture has invaded childhood to a point where they feel like they are not up to par with anyone? And how terrible that a child should feel that way- ever. Thankfully, they are children and they move from one thought to the next rather quickly, so when my daughter feels that way and I read a book with her or play a board game with her, I can wait 5 minutes and then find a love love love letter on my kitchen counter. ah, childhood- you roller coaster, you.
I'm totally agreeing with Trishia on this one. A couple of her friends got Hannah Montana tickets and Mom said they couldn't afford them.
"But Ashley and Brittany are going.."
"Sorry, they're too expensive. Maybe we can see the movie."
"But it would change my life!"
"Sorry"
"I hate you!"
Ten minutes later she comes back with a new approach...
My first inclination was to be sad about this note, but I have a daughter--I have a daughter and a photograph of that daughter when she was about 6 or 7, she's holding up a note that states that unless somebody gives her some gum, she will never speak again.
Some kids are prone to dramatics, especially smart ones. Margo's mom may be a head case, but Margo seems pretty well put together, I think she's going to be fine.
I sneak a peak at my 8-year old daughter's journal from time to time. Since she was about six, there have been entries where she seems to just be berating herself for not doing better -- it breaks my heart to think that maybe I put that kind of pressure on her when I think of myself as a pretty easygoing mom.
Gotta go hug my kids . . . later!
FYI, for those of you who don't know the meaning, and don't have time/inclination to look it up.
in·vid·i·ous–adjective
1. calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful: invidious remarks.
2. offensively or unfairly discriminating; injurious: invidious comparisons.
3. causing or tending to cause animosity, resentment, or envy: an invidious honor.
4. Obsolete. envious.
She made a heart person!!! My mom used to leave me notes in my lunch bag with heart people on them. Although, we usually gave them hair :)
I just wanted to add for Nadine's sake (because I wrote about having all the alcoholic family members) that I personally had a great childhood. Some people even call/called it 'Leave it to Beaverish.' But never-the-less we apparently have the addiction gene in our family, which is tough. Especially for the people who didn't inherit the trait, only suffer the consequences from the ones that do.
I married an Irish Catholic man who is child number 6 out of 8. The first time I met his folks I was so overwhelmed the amount people, the noise, and the amount of alcohol that was consumed. But, despite all of that, there was an lot love and really they are quite a normal family.
I think every family is weird in some ways and wonderful in some ways all at the same time.
Finally and EASY spam question - What is the opposite of down?
speaking from experience (yup, another screwed up childhood), the part that says "my note does not mean that I hate you. It means I love you" means to me that the daughter is trying to tell her mother that she is sad, but at the same time trying to reassure her that she is not blaming her. This means that it really IS the mother's fault that the daughter is sad (ie. because the mother either has a temper or an addiction), but the daughter is now such a people-pleaser that she is trying to make the mom feel better (ie. telling her that she loves her and the extra-big hearts and stars).
Sigh. She has many years of therapy ahead of her. Good luck Margo.
I hope Margo's mom didn't just throw this note away.
I would have written a note like this when I was about 6 or 7, but instead I just came out and asked my mother "Why don't you just divorce him?" The "him" was my stepfather. They were both alcoholics and would get into loud, violent fights. For this particular scene, he had squealed off in her car, spewing gravel everywhere. My mom tracked him down at a mini mart by using his pickup, which he disabled by taking out the distributor cap. I remember asking her this question as I got into the back of my uncle's car at the mini mart.
Her response: "You just hurt me more than he ever could."
Funny, I feel like I was trying to be the adult and take care of her back then. I often had dreams about driving a car at the age of 9 and up, until I moved in with my real father, who had always been there for me. I think the driving dreams were about wanting to be in control of my own life, because the "adults" were not doing a very good job. I was lucky. My brother is the product of my mother and the aforementioned stepfather, so he didn't have the option of escape.
Somehow, we both turned out ok. :)
You guys are really making me glad I don't have kids. Plus, I'd just get drunk and beat them anyway.
oh dear. i also can relate to notes like these. i have written a couple in my childhood. the part where margo insists that she still loves her mom speaks to me like the mother is very sensitive and emotional and could dramatically take it the wrong way. it sounds exactly like parts of my notes. its hard having to be careful of what you say that early in life. keep on truckin, margo.
what is the opposite of bad? Stephen Colbert!
I don't know, if this girl was a kindergartener I wouldn't be surprised. I agree with tiffany in the office, most likely it's something little like her mother wouldn't let her go to a sleepover because she was acting up. I know when I was four or five, on Valentine's day, my parents were playing cards and wouldn't let me play. I wrote "I hat mommy" in big letters on my wall. I don't think the little girl is stupid, she's probably just learned to write.
I remember writing notes like this to God when I was younger. I would run upstairs to my room and start gegging him to take me away when the screaming and violence started.
God never answered, so I left him behind and learned to take care of myself.
I hope Margo's mom listens, for both of their sakes.
p.s. Margo, today and forever you are beautiful and strong it will get better, things will change, i promise.
The fact that she makes a point to tell her mom that she loves her probably does not mean that her mom is sensitive - it is just a reflection of her childlike mind.
Margo is the sensitive one, just like any normal child and probably would be afraid someone "hates" her if she were bad. Just like the way kids blame themselves when of course they are not to blame.
Some of y'all are putting too much of your adult sensibilities into this child's note. I don't think she is having a bad childhood, with all the love hearts and all, I just think she is a normal little girl.
this is sweet, and cute, but at the same time kind of sad that she is so unhappy with her life, hope everything turns out okay with no suicides!!
big sister- yeah i know there are a lot of reasons why she could have written the reassurance part. but i swear i have written stuff like that and it was so my mom wouldnt take it the wrong way, which could lead to unhappy things. hopefully it was just so her mom would know she isnt a horrible mommy.
Hmmm... I sure hope that Margo's mom even *received* this note!!
My first thought was - maybe - contacting biological father(?) -- or maybe Margo is adopted -- contacting biological mother(?)
GREAT thoughts here -- I can't wait to come back & read 'em all
like lots of us, i could of (did) write this note when i was a kid, not a bad childhood but i couldn't understand why my cousins could have ponies, private schools and izod and my dad was on strike and we ate spagetti-n-eggs (NOT reccomended). I begged mum to 'change my life' let me go live with the rich cousins... thankfully she was wise enough to make me tough it out. (note is the begining of passive-aggressive. i'm miserable, you need to fix it, but i still love you.)
ooo! i know the spam question, 'cause ize an art teacher! yellow and blue is....
I thought my computer was confessing to me this morning, I tried to log on and got the message Bad Gateway. I was like, what did you do?
Because of the heart and stars I think it's just a pissed off little girl who will be just fine.
I really like that name " The call is coming from inside your pants! ". Funny.
Most of Margo's handwriting is standard kid writing. But I really love her Fs- especially the one in "forever".
Back in the late '80's on Oprah or something, some child psychologist said that if a child's doodles include stars, it's an indication that the child in question is abused. Anyone else ever heard that? (although I don't consider this "doodling". The artwork on this note looks more planned than random doodles.)
I have a 7 & 9 year old. Here is my guess...DRAMA over something! The note leads me to believe Margo was in trouble, because that is when I get notes, like right after they get out of thier room, bam, I get a note. I have heard I hate my life before, once when my son was on a "naughty" spree and I flipped out and told him I couldn't take the way he was acting anymore. In fact, his note was much similar to this one! My guess, she is trying to ask for help but in a really typical suck-up-y way. Using words she hears mom use. I think mom needs help, not Margo!
Wow ! What a note. Good find.The kid is reaching out at a young age and that's good. So many kids are brought into unfortunate circumstances, it's sad. I hope her mother hears her.
Dear Found;
I am very tired of the American Apparel ads. I can not live the rest of my life like this. Can you change the ads forever? Please!! My note does not mean that I hate you. It means I love you.
Love Stranger
Love You!!!
I thought everybody doodled stars.
you can't make blanket statements about.."drawing this means that".
tell that to oprah and her guests in the '80s, mona.
Catyia, "her teacher should be fired???". Hmmm, well I can tell you as a teacher we get kids with dyslexia, fetal alcohol syndrome, ADD, ADHD, various learning disabilities and some apathetic parents who couldn't care less about helping kids with their spelling lists or homework. So...often a child's spelling like that on this precious note has nothing at all to do with the teacher.
Amen to you, teacher in WA, and everyone like you. it is apparent from this note that Margo is well on her way to being an excellent communicator. I'd be willing to bet that her spelling skills are right on target with her age/grade. Catyia, do you think that children should enter the educational system only if they have impeccable spelling skills?
What does it say on the back of the note?
To: MOM (heart person)
From: Margo (star, heart person)
the To Mom is backwards in relation to the From Margo because the note must have been folded in half, then the to and from written on the front and the back.
i just hate all those things, self help books, what-have-you that tell you answers in absolute ways. I think it causes more confusion and disruption in people's lives than there was before. That's what i'd say to Oprah, even in the 80's.
I useded to spll like that.
I think that a young child drawing stars might indicate that they just learned to draw stars. I remember learning to make those cool stars in one stroke...such fun! No abuse here! And obviously Catyia must be too young and uninformed to have children (though I'm sure hers will be perfect!) Anyone with school aged kids knows that nowdays they use "creative" spelling from kindergarten through 1st or 2nd grade. Spell it as you hear it. Most kids leave vowels out, and from the looks of it Margo is right on track, probably even better than other kids her age. You go, Margo!
Mona: i totally agree. Besides what does Oprah know? She wears diamonds to South Africa. TACKY!
Wow! This is amazing. The only bit of the story I can add is that it was a rainy night when I found the note. It was not wadded but folded in half and I picked it up because the folded side (that you can sort of see) said "Love Margo" with the happy heart and I could tell it was from a child. I found it sad and a little alarming. I like all the takes that have people saying she sounds like a normal creative young girl. I guess it might be of note that it was left on the ground. Is Mom a litterer?
Thanks for all the feedback. My favorite is Helen in sensitive.
Can you chong my life forever?
Thank you, Joanne, for those details about your find. I just hope Margo's ok.
If Margo starts smoking pot, will it Cheech and Chong her life?
I love how when it's a sad child's note, everyone takes it at its word, it's so tragic, blah blah blah, but when it's less serious everyone jumps on board to make fun of the child. Awesome.
That is the single saddest thing I have ever seen. I hope Margo got better and got a name change.
Just read an article on bipolar kids and this sounds exactly like the letter a 7 year old wrote his parents before they got him diagnosed and treated with meds. I hope that Margo gets the help she (he?) needs and
I use to draw stars all the time when I was a kid. I wasn't abused to my knowledge (that is if I'm choosing to believe in repressed memories today).
There are symptoms for every disease, disorder, etc, but one the most important things to remember about diagnosis is that there are exceptions to every rule.
It is very possible that Margo is being abused, but I don't think the answer to whether or not she is being abused is in the stars.
I like the name Margo, but I prefer it spelled Margaux. It's got more pizazz!
when I was in elementary school there was a girl named margo but she was pretty chunky and everyone called her cargo...then escargo, largo, lardo, margerino...
kids are so cruel