Dear Sheri, A Letter To A New Friend

Dear Sheri,

You have never met me, but I am a friend of your friend, Ericka Rizio. All of Ericka’s friends were so sorry to hear you were diagnosed with breast cancer. Ericka, of course, was saddened and felt helpless to do something for you because of the distance between you.

Since you are a friend of Ericka’s, you are automatically a friend of ours. We are funny that way. You really have no choice but to be lumped in with us. Sorry, you will have to speak with Ericka about her choice in friends, but for now, you are stuck with us.

A few things about being our friend; we are exceedingly sarcastic and silly and think nothing of interrupting a touching story with a “clever” remark. Oh, and we are forever copying each other’s ideas in dress and manner taking the other’s signature phrase or look as our own, without thinking twice…and..and, once we are friends with you, we NEVER let you go. Just ask our friend Christine who tried to leave the tether of our company, only to be endlessly emailed and voice messaged until she finally relented and started seeing us again.

Back to the point, all of us “Friends of Ericka” or FOE (ironic and a bit confusing) for short, wanted to do something for you and also wanted to give Ericka a way to show how much she cares about you. So we loaded the kids in the car and went down to The ARTbar. They were having a fundraiser for breast cancer. We could all design dress forms in any way we choose and enter them in the coming exhibit. All to raise money for research.

(FOE at the ARTbar)

(We filled the joint with FOE.)

(This is your new friend Jana. She’s a good egg.)

(The Rizio clan’s creations)

So, when we were done putting the magical touches on our **fingers** artwork **fingers** we turned them in to be displayed at a later date.

<aOkay cut to later date...

(Some of the entries were truly remarkable and touching.)

The show is now over and I am going down to pick them all up tomorrow. We are going to send you a few with absolutely no expectation of you putting them up in a prominent place in your home.

Sheri, on a more sincere note, we are all praying hard for your full recovery. We all feel like we know you. When we heard the news your son broke his collar bone last week, we all let out a huge “Awwwww,” in disbelief and sympathy for you and your family.

As you already know, you have a true friend in Ericka. She is a wonderful person, way out of our league really. Take care and please keep Ericka posted on your progress.

Best Wishes,
Suzanne Broughton