Dear House Mates,

Since I’ll be out of the house again as much as possible all day, I wanted to leave you this little note.  I know I’ve said some of this in person, but sometimes a letter means so much more.  Now we will all have memories to treasure.

Let me start by saying how much I appreciate your efforts to keep the kitchen clean.  It’s so much nicer to see your dishes piled next to the sink instead of left in it. Tonight I noticed your new cleaning strategy at the end of a meal; it’s so original.  I can say it has never occurred to me to lift my bowl and run my tongue around it when I’m finished eating.  In fact, I’ve never lapped at my plate either.  What an ingenious idea.  I hope you don’t mind that I am retaining my own methods with the set of dishes I keep in my room.

And those coffee grounds you poured on the cabinet just after Veronica finished cleaning? They go great with the breadcrumbs: together they reflect so many pretty colors in the blade of the knife you left next to your dirty cutting board and empty water bottles.  Thank you for moving so quickly when the cleaning was finished. We wouldn’t want the house not to feel lived in.

Listen, ever since I heard about the “little incident” with the gas five years ago, I’ve been reconsidering your continual assessment of the safety of leaving it on.  On the one hand, I wonder what the landlord could possibly know that you don’t - but on the other, the thought of dying in an explosion makes me a little nervous.  Maybe we could compromise and you could turn it off the first three or four times you use it in a day and I will turn it off after that.  Or I could just keep doing it for you.  Let me know which you prefer.

I know it’s great to be a couple traveling together in Italy, but gosh you must be suffering in this heat.  It was terrible the other morning when you poor things had to sleep with your door propped wide open.  On my way back from the bathroom I couldn’t help but notice that those are some beautiful pairs of underwear you’ve got there.  I've really never seen anything like it, even looking away as quickly as I did.  I’m so glad you bought a fan; now we will all be feeling better.

I could go on and on, there are so many things I will remember you for: the sight of the unscrubbed evidence in the toilet, the sound of your belches, the care with which you slam the cabinet doors, the way you finish studying and leave your books spread across the table…Oh!  

Just five more weeks until you go.  Unbelievable.

Anna