Dear Astrid Lindgren,

When I was younger, I knew your Pippi stories backward and forward.  I would have my mom braid wire into my hair so my braids stood straight out, which I soon discovered could double as a weapon. I think the other children thought I was strange because I would come to school in mismatched stockings and every year I would ask Santa for a monkey. I even went so far as to build myself a Villa Villa Kula. It was a simple structure, consisting of pieces of plywood nailed to trees, but it was my fortress. I would spend hours in my Villa Villa Kula, counting my “gold” and cleaning, just like Pippi would. Thank you, Mrs. Lindgren for the wonderful childhood memories your book bestowed on my life.

Seven years went by and I drifted away from my Pippi phase, as would be expected as a child grows into a teenager. However, shortly after my parents split up I happened to be thumbing through my Pippi collection, as I wallowed in self-pity. I read the page in which Tommy and Annika are asking Pippi what she does without a mother or a father. I was surprised how matter-of-fact and cheerful Pippi was about her predicament. I finished the page, closed the book and just sat there for a minute. If Pippi could look beyond her troubles and see joy in the world, why couldn’t I? Thank you, Mrs. Lindgren because you gave me the insight to see beyond sadness.

If someone were to ask me who I aspire to be like, I wouldn’t have to think twice before answering Pippi Longstocking. A motivational speaker I once heard said, “What is important is not who you want to be when you grow up, it is who you want to be now.” Who I want to be now is Pippi Longstocking.

Although she is naïve and oblivious, Pippi is completely carefree and doesn’t care what people think about her. Life would be so much fun if I didn’t care at all what people thought of me. My goal is to be able to walk backwards down the street in a homemade dress, mismatched stockings, and boots several sizes too large for me just like Pippi and not care at all what people thought. I want to wake up every morning and have supreme self-confidence almost to the point of ignorance.

My goal is to be able to stand up for the innocent, and always do what I think is right. Sometimes what Pippi did wasn’t right, but she thought it was and that is what is important. Pippi never did anything half-way and that is how I want to live my life. I want everyday to be an adventure, and I want to have fun no matter what I am doing. Thank you, Mrs. Lindgren because now I have fun doing even the most boring tasks like cleaning the floor. Everyday is an adventure for Pippi, and I want everyday to be an adventure for me as well. Thank you for your time and for giving me a new outlook on my life.

Respectfully Yours,

Maya Johnson

9th Grade
Kenai Central High School, Kenai, Alaska
Teacher:  Susan Nabholz