The Letter — part II

continued

  “I don’t think you should Mom.”  interrupted Trdy.  “It’s kind of personal.  Dad wrote that letter before he went on what was his last mission.  Although he didn’t know it, those were just about his last words to anyone.  Do all those people need to hear the letter?  Why don’t you read it first, then you can either tell us what was in it, or read it to us.”
     “Though I don’t think its any big deal after all these years, “ said Joe, “maybe Trudy’s right.  Take a few moments to yourself then you share it.  After all, Dad was the only man you ever loved, right?  I think we can all give you two some time alone.  Unless of course, they already opened it down at the post office.”   he laughed.
     “No Joe, it’s still sealed.  The man said that it was when they got ready to move out of the old post office building that they found it.  There were two sacks of mail underneath some old paint tarps in a storage room.  Some guy was probably using the sacks to sleep on or something.  When he put the tarp over them, he forgot about the mail.  They thought that most of stuff in them were magazines and circulars, but there were a few letters too.  I was one of the few people that they were able to locate.  It must have been buried under a stack of Life magazines and Sears catalogues, because when they found it, it was still sealed.”  She looked up from her plate and smiled at them.  “When they saw that the letter had no postage they could tell it was from Vietnam, as they didn’t have to pay postage to mail letters home from Vietnam.  So they figured it was something that would mean a lot to us.  Especially when they found out that Dad had died right after mailing that letter.”
     “You’re doggone right it does,” said Joe “I’m real curious about what’s in the letter, aren’t you mom?”
     “In the past few days I’ve been so confused.  At times I could hardly wait till this day came, but now its here and I think I might be afraid to open the envelope.  I think I might go off by myself to read it before I share it with everyone.  It may take me a few minutes to just  get the nerve up to read it.  I’m not being silly am I?”
     “Of course not,” said Trudy as she got up and took the coffee of the stove and poured some for her mother and Joe.  “We understand.”
     Joe took his napkin and wiped some egg off his chin.  “What were Dad’s last letters like?  I mean the ones before this one.?”
     “Well, the last one I got, before I was told that he had been killed in action, really there wasn’t much.  He didn’t really talk a lot about what he was doing, kind of kept it all a secret.  I knew that he was already thinking about how much time he had left before he would be rotating home.  He didn’t want to mention it in a letter,  didn’t want to jinx it he said.  He never said much about how he felt about things.  He asked about you children, especially you Trudy, because he had only seen you a few days before he had to go overseas.  He told me that no matter what might happen, he loved us all very much.”
     “Neither of us remembers much about Dad.” said Trudy “we only know what we’ve heard from you and a few others.  I remember when I was younger, looking at that picture on your dresser.  I knew that was my father, but I wanted to hear his voice, watch him walk up the steps to the house.  I just wanted something more to remember him by than just that picture.  Maybe I was jealous of you since at least you had something more to cling to all these years.  I sometimes wonder about it all.  Being engaged now to the son of one his good friends from the service, who flew together with him.  Was that something that he guided me to?  To marry Dan, the son of big shot Frankie Rutherford?  Out of all the guys I met in college, I somehow floated into the life of Dan Rutherford and he into mine.  Now I feel that I will be happily married soon, but what about you?  What was Dad like that you never even went out with another man?”
     “He was just twenty-two when he died.  We dated for a few years and then got married right after high school.  He was all I ever knew or ever wanted.  After he died, I had a hard time accepting that he was gone forever.  For a few years I refused to believe that he was really dead, that there must have been some mistake.  Someday he’d come whistling up the front porch like he always did and we’d be one happy family again.  Finally, I faced facts and decided to get on with life.  I knew then that I was going to devote myself to raising you kids up to be children that he’d be proud to see.  We were very much in love and I just felt that I could never give my love or share my life with any other man.”
     Trudy reached over to her mother and held her hand.  “I’m glad that you never married anyone else.  Even though I never knew him, I wouldn’t have wanted another man trying to take my Dad’s place.”
     “Me too, Mom.  You did the best job possible raising us kids.  I don’t think things turned out too bad, considering everything.”  smiled Joe.
     “Thank you both.  I’m proud of you and I’m sure your father is too.  I appreciate you both being here today, especially you Trudy, coming all this way by yourself.  This will be a day I’ll always remember.”
     They all sat at the table in silence for a few minutes.  Everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts.  Then Joe got up and pushed back his chair.  “Okay Mom, let’s get these dishes cleared away.  I’ve got to get this house cleaned up, it’s a mess in here.:”
     “A mess?”  Joseph Sanderson!  How can you say that?  This house is spotless, unless you tracked in some dirt when you came in.  My house is never a mess.”  She slapped him on his shoulder as he tried to duck away.
     “Sorry Mom, just checking.  Knew that if there was work to do, i’d have to do it.” he laughed  “You and Trudy will probably be upstairs all morning getting dressed up and fixing up your hair.”
     “And what’s wrong with that?”  said Trudy.  “We want everybody to know that Nolan Sanderson’s wife is still the prettiest girl in Fair Bluffs.  Maybe I’ll even run over to the mall at Carleton and get Mom a new dress to wear.”  

   “You’ll do no such thing, I have plenty of nice dresses.  You stay here and help Joe.  I have to make a few pies, then there will be plenty time for you to fix my hair.”