During our courtship, when G was still living in the Netherlands, we would visit each other every month or so. One of the times he visited me, his flight home was a day I was out of town on business, so he drove himself to the airport in my car, using the spare key. When he mailed the key back, he enclosed it in a package of paper napkins decorated with little red hearts. On the first napkin in the package he wrote a note, with a P.S. "Your car key is inside one of the napkins."
And then, on each of the 20 napkins in the package, he wrote a little love note.
I showed him the package with his notes this morning over breakfast. He read the first one slowly, and then said quietly, "That was when I could write." Argh. I'm never sure when I bring out things from our past whether it will bring back happy memories or remind him of how much we have lost.
I flipped through the napkins to see if I could find something that might cheer him up, and found one that said, "My darling, please don't get too organized." !! That made him laugh. He's always been better than me at picking up after himself and keeping things neat, and even before we were married he saw signs of my sometimes haphazard housekeeping. But he married me anyway.
I'm glad I have my two guys with me on Valentine's Day.
Oh Ginnie, that was a tear-jerker! But a lovely story; thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteLife is sometimes so cruel and often to those who deserve it the least. How lucky that you still have each other and such lovely memories (bittersweet as they are)
ReplyDeleteHow sweet and how sad. I hope your day was a happy one, though poignant.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks so much for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweetheart. How wonderful that you have those reminders, tho. I am sure it's very painful at times.
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