who will you never forget?
nyc's anonymous letters on love, loss, and hope
Hi, I'm Preston! Each month, I visit New York City parks and invite strangers to write vulnerable letters to share anonymously on a public wall.
This project began as a way to foster connection among strangers, offering a space where they can express their deepest emotions and experiences without fear of judgment. By encouraging vulnerability, the project aims to create a world where people feel more understood and connected. Through these letters, individuals from all walks of life explore real snapshots of love, loss, hope, and everything in between.
By sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings, we can build a more empathetic and understanding world, one letter at a time.
This week, I wanted to share five of my favorite letters I got from the prompt: “who will you never forget?”.
Dear mon peche sucré,
As I grow into myself, I allow myself to feel the intensity of all emotions. To feel them deeply, and in the painful moments to treat myself with love and compassion. With you, every moment was so vibrant, filled with color, life, and energy. What is life but a reflection of ourselves? In you, I found beauty and was reminded of the things I appreciate – Tenderness. Joy. Laughter. Investing 100% of myself into the people and things in my life. The pain of rejection, although sharp and strong, is another way for me to learn and grow into the truest form of myself. Thank you for reminding me that love, true love, is what makes the world go round. I hope to dedicate myself to love.
Lastly, to sever the cord, I forgive you. In my dreams, you apologize. You say sorry for pursuing me, for taking my love without being able to return it. You apologize for falsely allowing me to hope, to dream. You apologize for building with me, for showing affection, knowing fully well you can’t reciprocate. I forgive you, and I thank you.
My heart will always overflow at the thought of you. Je pense tu es tres mignon, et je t’aime.
“Love is sufficient onto love.”
From, Ellie
Dear Hillie,
You've been on my mind recently. I can picture your toothless smile when you finally lost those two front teeth. I can hear your giggle from the front yard as you run through the sprinkler with Luke. I want to pull you aside, whisper in your ear to keep playing for as long as you can. I want to plead with you not to grow up too fast. You're about to reach an age when people start praising you for being "so mature for your age" and for being "wise beyond your years." When that happens, you're going to light up. You're going to feel like people see you, and you're going to buy into this narrative. I fear this will be a turning point for you and will put you on the trajectory that brings you to me. So I beg of you, stay sweet and silly and young just a little while longer. Play with Luke outside until dark, get a little muddy in the park, run as fast as you can, color outside the lines, and climb to the highest branch in the oak tree next door. There's plenty of time ahead to be serious, to get perfect grades, to accomplish all the things. You get this short window to be young and carefree.
I want you to enjoy all of it. You'll understand what I mean when you get here, I promise.
XO, Adult H
Dear Dad,
I'll never forget the way you laugh, the way you guided, the way you hugged, and the way you brought magic into every room. Life is both less vibrant and less interesting without you here. When you taught me to ice skate, you told me to step, step, slide.
So I won't forget to keep doing that.
Step, step, slide.
Dear Brian,
Thank you for being my first love. Thank you for growing with me and sharing our childhood with me. I am sorry that I didn’t handle it better when I realized we outgrew each other. I mean, f***. Ages 16, 22? 5.5 years? I’m sorry for being mean sometimes. I know you’re sorry too. Sometimes I wish I could call you and tell you how far I’ve come. How much healthier I am. I saw a picture of you and your new girlfriend on Instagram and genuinely felt so happy for you. I look back at us. We were so young! And now I’m in school getting my doctorate and you’re in Philly and… I don’t know.
I’m grateful for those years and your love and I will never forget them.
I’m still looking for a love like ours. But I know it can happen because of you.
Thank you for making me laugh and for showing me I am not broken.
How could I ever forget the person who was part of me.
Anyway, I hope you know how much you mean to me. I know you do.
XO, Leah
Dear Tavax,
My love, my forever after, my friend, my biggest supporter, my heart...
Words cannot describe how much I miss you. We haven't been talking for almost two weeks now and we have finally decided to put a stop to our relationship.
It's been hard. The thought of not having you in my life hurts more than anything that's ever happened to me. I walked for the first time with you in this park! Looking back, it feels like I've done all my firsts with you. I miss you terribly and even though I tell myself I'm moving on and open to new experiences and opportunities, deep down I know I'm lying and I know there'll always be a missing hole in my heart in need of you. People tell me to stop hoping for you to change your mind and come back, but I can't stop myself from hoping. What's the harm in hope? I love you, and I will always love you. I think I will be always waiting for you.
If you enjoyed this, please like and subscribe! Your support helps me continue the project, thank you.
P.S. If you have a question you wanted asked, comment it and I’ll see what I can do :)
I share videos of these letters being read aloud by their author on my instagram @prestonrack!
i’m obsessed with the idea of this project! what better way to rekindle civic empathy than to encourage each other to share their barest hearts ❤️ i came here from your instagram page and now i’ll be waiting for each substack release :)
I find this so amazing. I came here from an Instagram post of yours because one of the letters put a spark in me for a song I wanna write. ❤️