July 3, 2018 would have been our fifty-second anniversary. I was dreading the day, fully expecting it to be a very difficult one for me. But it turned out to be a rather extraordinary day for me.
I was looking for something and knew it was probably in my hall closet. I'm short so I took a step stool, placed it in front of the open closet and stepped on it so I could reach the top shelf. I started to move stuff around including a cloth bag that was laying there. I thought I knew what was in the cloth bag and pulled it down, placing it on the dining table nearby. I went back to the closet and found what I originally was looking for and took it down.
I sat at the dining table and opened the cloth bag. I pulled out all the letters my beloved Warren had written to me from the time we met (the second time.) I had kept them all. There were dozens and dozens written between February of 1962 through May of 1963, all during his junior and senior years at the University of Massachusetts. But what was also in the bag were all the cards we received for our wedding and all the cards we received for our first anniversary! And among the treasures was the card that accompanied the bouquet of flowers I received from Warren's Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity brothers congratulating me on getting "pinned."
I spent the afternoon rereading the letters, starting with the oldest one. As I read each one, my mind went flying back to that time and the memories were so vivid that I felt as if I was transported back in time. I haven't read all of them yet because each one made me pause as I relived that time, thinking of where I was, what I was doing and what I was feeling. It's as if I was watching, once again, our love unfold.
I looked over the wedding and anniversary cards and couldn't keep the smiles from enveloping my face.
Ethan called today, the 3rd, to check up on me knowing what this day meant to me. I told him about the letters and told him he and Abbott just have to read each letter because it will give them real insight into their Dad's wacky sense of humor, intelligence and storytelling abilities. Abbott and I went out to dinner tonight and I told him about the letters, tickling his curiosity. I'm hoping the boys and I will have a reading-fest during the weekend of Warren's unveiling.
I have several more letters to read but the first one holds the key to our love story. We barely knew each other but his first letter, asking me out, was signed LOVE, WARREN. That, I noticed, was an unusual way to end a first letter but it was an indication of things to come.
So, July 3, 2018 turned out to be a nostalgic day filled with the most exquisite of loving memories. I honestly believe Warren's heart and hand guided me to that bag. He knew what I needed and made sure to provide it. Thank you, my darling.
Copyright © 2018, Reisa Sterling Miller. All Rights Reserved
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