A Real Good Feel-Good Christmas Story
Dear Diary….A few weeks ago I got a Facebook message from someone I didn’t know. It started out the way many messages via Facebook start out which is why I probably don’t check them all that often:
“Hi Shelly, you don't know me...
Oh boy. Here we go again. But for some reason I continued reading:
“I'm a working actor in NYC and many years ago I found a diary on the street from the 70's, the name Shelley Peiken inside, and all the entries dedicated to "Steve" from Freeport, Long Island.”
Indeed I had a boyfriend named Steve when I was a freshman in HS — back when I spelled my name with an extra ‘e.’ And indeed, I grew up in Freeport, Long Island. Gulp. He attached this photo :
This calls for my favorite emoji: 😳
Go on, Go on!
“I've always felt the diary was too personal to drop into a landfill, I was going to burn it some day, but it slipped behind books in one of our bookshelves and that was that for 15 years or more. We're doing a renovation (manhattan) and there it was again. Welcome to the 21st century, I looked up your name and it all came together. Question. Is it something you'd like to see again? I'm happy to facilitate a hand off or whatever. Bottom line: is this you? Hope you and yours are well, safe and thriving in these complicated times. Best, Jonathan Walker”
Just Wow!
As you can imagine I had questions:
How did I lose my diary?
What was I doing walking around the streets of New York City with it?
Why that particular diary? I have hundreds!
Of course he could not answer these questions and of course I wanted the diary back. I thanked him profusely and told him I’d be in NYC for Christmas. And then I did what any normal person would do. I searched for his profile online to see if he looked insane altho of course this tells you nothing these days as anyone can make a fake profile.
But it was my diary. No question about it. My name was inside (with that extra ‘e’). My address. My phone number. My handwriting.
So here I am in NY and it’s Christmas.
I told a couple of my friends I was going to meet this man and their eyebrows went up. Whatever you do, don’t go alone! They’re so paranoid. Where is their Christmas spirit? I had a different feeling about Jonathan Walker. His grammar was in tact. His kindness was overflowing. That said, I brought Adam with me.
I knew it was Jonathan Walker as soon as he walked sprightly toward me, little white book in hand. Sense of humor from the get-go — he asked Adam if he was Steve! …Steve — the first true love of my life. (But then he graduated and I moved on to Jeff or Mitch. Or was it Neil? Oy.)
Jonathan Walker handed me the diary. I flipped through the pages and recognized that 9th grade slant-from-the-left printing that was so on-trend for HS girls. Slipped in between the pages were letters from Steve (asking that I never show them to anyone). I wonder if Jonathan Walker read them.
I couldn’t just thank-and-run. Besides, I was curious. Who is this Jonathan ‘Good Samaritan’ Walker? We chatted for about 15 minutes. Adam and he even more-so than he and I. He was a New York actor, married/no children, cast in the soon-to-be-on NBC The End Game. We vented about Omicron and Broadway closing (again)… waiting for more information so we can get back to life as we knew it…etc…etc… I suggested that when the weather and virus clear up maybe we go out for a drink. But we probably won’t. But that’s how I felt. Because he was just the loveliest human. And random acts of kindness are not as common as they used to be. We tapped elbows and wished each other a Merry Christmas.
Adam said, Wow. What a nice guy. What a nice thing!
Last few nights I haven’t been able to put that diary down. Who was that girl? How little she knew. Where the hell is Steve? One thing’s for sure. I was truly in love. As in love as a 15-year-old girl could be. And if I could I would thank Steve for loving me back, loving me right and setting the bar high.
I’ve pretty much always been a diehard optimist — I come back to choosing hope time after time. But it can be challenging even for me these days to follow my smile through the crazy moment we’re currently living in. TBH, I find myself struggling with moments of despair and anxiety. But this turned my heart around.
I hope someone returns something you’ve lost.
Merry Christmas!
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