Page 53 of Kate & Frida

Frida Rodriguez ... En Route

October 7, 1993

Paris, France

Fair Kate,

The time has come for some Sally Jessy Raphael frank talk. Do you pay attention to what you write to me? Most of your letters lately have been about figuring things out. You’ve realized you don’t want to be any other writer than you! You wrote a brilliant MFK article hailed by the esteemed Emmett Watson! You are NOT lost. You are on YOUR path. Your problem is that you still think of yourself as insecure. Stop it! Maybe you were when you first wrote to me, but now it’s a Bad Habit. That’s not who you are. At least it’s not the Fair Kate I know.

I think one of the big reasons you’re grouchy is because it’s too much work holding Sven at arm’s length. I know I’m hardly one to talk – Leap Before You Look Frida – but think about how it must make him feel. His parents don’t know how to be parents. His novel is dying. He’s afraid of going blind. Here you are getting your life sorted out, and you won’t even tell him about dancing to Neil Diamond. Seriously, Kate, if you let him all the way in he’ll get to see not everyone’s going to let him down and maybe he’ll stop harping about disappointment and he might even cut back on his exhausting arguments about the meaning of everything. Isn’t it worth a shot? Nine out of ten kitchen table therapists approved this message.

Your Sage Parisian Amiga,

Frida