These letters have been transcribed following the events they describe for the museum’s personal collection. It has been redacted by request of the author for privacy purposes:

Der —–,
you are my Best friend! i hope we are Best friends forever!
Ok bye now! ——–

Deer —–,
i like being friends with you so much. We get to play together and do jump rope and play games and it is the best. Why are you ————————? Why can i not go to —- school? i want to go to your hose all the tim!
From, ——–

Dear -,
We’ve been best friends for so long it feels like you know me better than I am supposed to know myself. We don’t spend much time together —————–. But I think maybe thats just because we see eachother ——— so what’s the point? ———– class is my favorite this year. I know you dont like —— much but I think I do. I am comfortable around you. We always talk when we can —————- but you never —————— at lunch. I guess thats ok, you’re probably busy or something. I found some new friends ———– so you can ——– your other friends. They’re all really nice but nothing compared to ————–. We have history you know? You know me and I know you and we just work like that. It’s my favorite when people mistake us for siblings. Maybe we ————- that we could be. I guess we have joked about that before. I wish I could see you more. Maybe you can sleep over next Saturday? Or some other time?
Love,
—-

Dear -,
Sometimes when I’m around you I feel like your loyal and silent shadow. We don’t —————– anymore but I refuse to accept that we aren’t best friends. It’s been too long. I don’t want to handle a change like that. Its too big, too much, too soon. We were supposed to —————— remember? We even promised to —————————————. I don’t know if you still like me. I think the last time you asked me for something was when —————————-. Naturally, the only time we speak is when you need something from me. Do you know how bad it got during ———? Did you care? You stopped being there for me. And I stopped knowing what to do. I think maybe my new friends are my real friends now. At least I made a good one! Not that you’d know. I can be —————————– and you’ll still go for other people first. Things were ok when we were —– but that doesn’t happen ——-. There is a sting in the little losses. We used to tell each other everything, what happened? I think we were good once. I do not know how we are now.
Love,
—-

Dear —–,
I have a new best friend now. I think — is better than you but there is always going to be doubt. I guess I have you to thank for that. I used to think we were destined to be —————. I guess not. I don’t know how to ———– anymore. I just want to know why —————————————– but I think it’ll take more than a conversation to figure that out.
———– is weird without you. For the first time in my life I am going through the motions of learning, the repetition of school, without you. Every time we pass ————— you smile your fake smile and I smile mine and we pretend to forget that —————————————–, ———-, ————. Our longest conversations are during national holidays and birthdays because people are expected to reconnect ————-.
I am learning to live with this.
I’m starting to see how bad ————— was with the clarity only hindsight can offer. Maybe I loved you once. And maybe you even loved me back. We cannot say the same now. If you are the cause of ——————-, why did I place you on such a high pedestal? Was this how you found your power? The most obvious moment was when I saw you with your —————. You treat — the same. We are your personal punching bags, a deflector if you will. We were the mirrors that loved you back. You called — such names, some reused, others new, the entire time. I understand anger. I do not understand yours. What will you do if — leaves?
Goodbye,
—-

Dear —–,
We met again.

Dear —–,
For the first time, I no longer regret leaving. I do not mourn what we could have been. I do not explore the “what-if’s” at night anymore. I’ll mourn what I could have been instead. I’ll give myself grace. I want to put what we had in the ground, let it settle in and return only in winter, when the dirt is frozen over. Just in case. I do not want to keep reliving this, it’s not my job to dwell on the past ——————. I’m done. You don’t deserve the weight of my memory and I do not deserve the weight of your shame.
So I forgive you. And I wish you all the best.