If kids, and many adults, were to write a letter to one of their closest friends these days, given the nasty virus going around, I think it might be something like this.

May you all have a terrific holiday with visits to and from the friends and family you love and value most.

Dear John,

You’ve been there for me since I was little. Sometimes you’re uppity, or back uppity as the case might be. We talk rarely, but we see each other every day. I wonder though, do you ever get tired of seeing me? Especially on days like today when I’ve been blessed with the stomach virus everyone is passing off to the next person faster than green vegetables are shunned at a kid’s party.

Illness and suffering may be a reminder for us to be grateful for the good things we have, like reliable friends like you. But John, I hope it doesn’t hurt your feelings too much for me to say I’d like a little space. The urgent need to race through the house and kneel before you is a little too close to obsession for my comfort. It’s just not healthy for a girl to be so reliant on a boy.

Please accept this letter in the spirit intended. I hope we can still be friends.

Sincerely,

Sick Kid