Words of love from my neighborhood

“The other time, I stopped in a jet of sunshine on the corner of the street. I let the rays paint me gold and closed my eyes imagining that passers-by would see my hair sparkling. One day I might just catch fire. ”

These are the kinds of letters that you find in the anonymous boxes that grow in my neighborhood, the Plateau Mont-Royal. Beautifully decorated wooden crates named ” letterbox “.

I saw one for the first time two weeks ago. I was in a hurry to get home before my next meeting Zoom, but I couldn’t help stopping to consult the ten letters that passers-by had placed in the box.

One of them wondered why relationships are sometimes allowed to die. “I wait until I have a success to share proudly before calling my friends… I don’t know why I’m doing this. ”

A postcard simply read “Habibi”.

My love.

In pink felt-tip pen, five words: “Be kind to your mind. ”

Be kind to your mind.

I took the pencil and one of the blank cards left for everyone, then I thought for a long time before writing the letter that I would submit in turn.

I came home as emotional as I was excited. I immediately told my discovery to my boyfriend, who replied: “It’s funny, I saw another one, a little further away!” »I came out with the firm intention of knowing who was hiding behind the citizen mailboxes… The meeting Zoom would wait.

***

Ding dong

“I think someone in the building next door made this… Try the door right there.” ”

Ding dong

“Bad apartment! Ring lower. ”

Ding dong

Anybody.

I go in search of the other box, the one my lover told me about. I spot her quickly and ring the doorbell nearest. To pass the time, I pet the kitten that has just emerged from the bush to roll at my feet. I look at his medal. His name is Cheetah. It’s a good name.

I reluctantly pull away from the animal and go upstairs.

A young woman answers me, smiling and kiwi fruit in her hand.

– You don’t have some info on the mailbox downstairs, by any chance?

– Yes, I painted it!

– The one further away too?

– No, but it’s someone I know!

– Are you a group ?

***

The apartment looks like a museum. The walls are covered with frames and shelves (themselves covered with motley objects). Here live Ella, Kasia and Aoife, three childhood friends who came from Toronto three years ago to study at Concordia University. The first specialized in ceramics before reorienting itself towards psychology. The second is about to graduate in photography and the third was studying film production when she decided to take a break.

Their very first mailbox is theirs.

Aoife tells me: “We were going for a walk last winter when Ella noticed a box lying around… She has an eye, she always sees forgotten objects. ”

Remember that we were in full pandemic isolation at the time. On returning home, Ella decided to turn the box into a tool to bring the neighborhood together. Everyone felt lonely, correspondence could undoubtedly bring some relief …

The success was instantaneous.

“We immediately received messages,” Kasia remembers. Since then people sometimes write to us, but I would say most of the time they write to nobody and everyone at the same time! Some also correspond together without even having met. Moreover, two women had a “date” thanks to the letterbox… ”

Aoife hands me a stack of carefully guarded letters over the months. Leafing through them, I wonder if I am not just holding the one that triggered the romantic encounter …

“A very pretty woman is also writing a letter, very close to me. Maybe she’s writing about me? Through rose-colored glasses, version Louis Armstrong, resonates in the street. I’m going to get up and ask him to dance. Wish me luck ! ”

***

Short intimate essays, a photo of a cat, musical suggestions, a list of gestures that make you happy, poems… I am impressed by the uniqueness of each letter. In fact, the miracle lies there: we do not know exactly what to do when stopping in front of the box. We are not guided at all, out of a desire to preserve our freedom. So I don’t know who I should write to or even about what… I have to take the time to ask myself what I want to say.

Hello, the little vertigo.

“It’s true that you have to define what matters to you,” Ella answers. But it’s amazing how often what people write matters to me too… ”

For the student, the anonymity of the exercise favors confessions. As if, by ignoring who was going to read us, we allowed ourselves to say more. To reveal ourselves in our troubled areas. The most universal, basically.

***

The second box now.

Thanks to the girls, I learn that it is the work of Mik, with whom they grew up, in Toronto. The artist also studied at Concordia, political science and film production. Moreover, Mik had just made a short film inspired by several anonymous letters that had been submitted to her (Thanks for the letter) when her friends created their box… We fell in love with the initiative!

“I have the impression that despite the reopening of businesses, people are still nervous to start a conversation with others,” Mik explains to me.

Moreover, in this corner of the neighborhood, people mostly write encouragement. “You are loved”, “You are valid” and sweets of the same type. Among Mik’s favorites, however, were bar bills that drunk people left messages behind! That, and a pancake recipe that now encourages passers-by to share their best culinary advice… The construction of adorable collective knowledge. And, above all, a village.

If you ever wonder what I ended up writing, the day I came face to face with my first letterbox, it was something like, “Thanks for taking the time to quit. To be there, here and now, trying to figure out who I am. Above all, thank you for being present enough to be able to see the surprises that punctuate your path… I know that it is not always easy. ”

Today I would especially say thank you to Ella, Kasia, Aoife and Mik for putting them there.