"Letter"

Good Morning FFFs,
We have snow on the ground! Not more than about 1/4 of an inch, but it's pretty.
What a week! Have you ever had a week that you thought would be a little busy only to have it become crazy? I'm probably the only one who has experienced that, right? ;)
Saturday was pretty normal except that it was so nice out, that I went walking with my best friends.
On Sunday we had nearly everyone at church which hasn't happened yet this year. Families are finally getting well.
I thought Monday was going to be normal, but I ended up driving my mom and sister to JoAnns because my mom's knee started bothering her. That ended up taking about 2 hours of my morning which of course threw the rest of my day somewhat off.
Tuesday came along and with it a thunderstorm, cooler weather and writing classes. Busy. But I loved the thunderstorm!
Wednesday was very different. I went over to the N's house to surprise a young friend who had a birthday last week. I didn't come home until after 3:00. I had gone over about 9:00.
Yesterday, since Mom's knee was still bothering her, I had to drive her and Dad to the dentist. (Dad was having some work done and was under some kind of "don't remember" pill so he couldn't drive.) Then I had to drive Mom over later in the morning to pick him up, stop and get prescriptions filled and then head home. Needless to say, that took up most of my morning. I was also replying to my wonderful illustrator about illustrations for book #4! I'm hoping to have this book out before conference season starts. :) And oh wow! The illustrations are great!
So now it is Friday. We are going to clean the house and maybe I can get some other things done. Tomorrow we have a wedding to go to. :) It is the first of this year's weddings. :)

Since it appears that most of my readers, at least those who comment so I know someone read it, :) are really busy, I didn't think I should post TCR or Dr. Morgan. I wrote this "letter" back in 2003 maybe, when I was writing "pretend letters" with a friend. As you can see by the date of this letter, we were writing during the Civil War. Hope you enjoy it.

December 30th, 1864

Pineville, Texas

    . . .This December has been another quiet one without Papa. Ellen was asking what Christmas was like when Papa was home. Isn’t that sad that she doesn’t remember Papa being home for Christmas? . . .
    On the fifteenth, which was Maggie Beth’s birthday, the boys, Maggie Beth & Ellen went to the woods and found a beautiful little tree which they brought home. The boys set it up in the front room, and we decorated it with strings of popped corn and berries. Maggie Beth, Ellen, and I also had gathered several baskets of pine cones, and we hung them on the branches. Mama had Jonathan bring down an old trunk from the attic, and when it was opened, she took out a dozen beautiful silver candle holders for the tree along with twelve candles!
    “Mama!” I gasped, “Where did these come from?” I had never seen them before.
    Mama smiled. “They were my mother’s. She had three dozen of these, and each of her daughters was to receive a dozen on her wedding day.” A far away look came into Mama’s eyes, and we all quietly settled ourselves for the story we knew was coming. . . .

    “As you know, I was the baby of the family. A pet of my brothers and two sisters, and the delight of my darling Mother and Father. At sixteen I met your Papa. He was tall and handsome, strong and brave. He wasn’t rich, but he was honest and God-fearing. Mother loved him and felt he was the right man for her baby. Shortly after we became engaged, when I was seventeen, Mother became very ill. I wanted to put off the wedding until she was better, but she wouldn’t hear of it.  It was decided to have only the family there for the wedding because Mama was not strong enough for much. I remember going to her room the morning of my wedding. Mother was lying on her bed resting. I knelt at her bedside and let her clasp the pearls my Father had just given me around my neck. Her hands were white and thin, but her smile was bright. ‘Grace, darling,’ Mother said in her soft, gentle voice that had only grown gentler with her suffering. ‘I know I won’t be here on earth much longer. My Savior calls me. I’m not afraid to go. Don’t grieve for me, Dearest. I will wait for you to come to me with your husband and all your darling children. I know I can trust you to Henry and our Precious Lord! I leave you everything in the old blue trunk. Take it with your mother’s blessing.’ She kissed me then and smiled.”
    Here Mama’s voice broke, and Jonathan put his arm around her.
    In a few minutes Mama was able to go on. “That evening just before your Papa and I left for our honeymoon, Mother died in Father’s arms.”
    Ellen burst into tears and climbed into Mama’s lap to be comforted. Maggie Beth squeezed Jonathan’s hand, and I cuddled Robert, thinking of how hard Mama’s wedding day must have been. Even Peter lay perfectly still for once, beside the old blue trunk.
    Mama continued, “It was hard to get used to the idea that Mother was gone. I thought of the blue trunk during our honeymoon. When we got back home, I asked Father for it. He couldn’t remember where it was. Neither of my sisters could find it, so I wrote to my brothers asking about it. Charles, Jonathan, David, and Frank remembered the trunk but didn’t know where it was either. Caleb never received my letter, though I didn’t find that out until later. The thought of ever finding the old blue trunk with its gift from my Mother faded in my mind after Anna and Jonathan were born. When your Grandfather moved in with Uncle Caleb, and we moved out here, I forgot about it. That is until I received  a letter from Father. He said they had found the old blue trunk buried in Caleb’s attic. They knew it was all mine because they found a letter from Mother saying so. When Uncle Caleb brought his family out here for a visit four years ago, he also brought the chest. Only we were all so busy then that Papa & I decided to wait to open it until Christmas. But as you know, Papa left for the war in October and wasn’t here for Christmas, so I didn’t open it. I was wanting to wait for him. When Papa was home last year, he & I opened it one evening after all you children were in bed. I would have opened it last Christmas, but I was feeling so ill that I forgot, and so,” Mama smiled at us all, “let’s open it now.”
    At that, Peter sat up quickly, and Ellen slid off Mama’s lap. They were both eager to be the first to get something out of  Grandmother’s old blue trunk.
    “Wait!” Jonathan exclaimed. “If we all try to unpack this, something will get broken. Why don’t we let Mama unpack it while we watch.”
    Jonathan’s suggestion was carried out quickly . . . The room grew quiet as Mama began to take items out of the old blue trunk. If I tried to tell you everything that was in there, Christiana, this would be a very long letter. There were a few quilts and four pearl necklaces. Mama said she thinks they were her Grandmother’s!  There was one little box that Mama had never seen before. When she opened it, she began to cry. We all looked at her in amazement. She must have noticed our looks, for she smiled through her tears and showed us a beautiful ring.
    “Whose was it, Mama?” Maggie Beth asked.
    “Mine,” Mama said. “Mother  and Father gave it to me for my seventeenth birthday. The diamond in it is from a necklace that Mother’s mother gave her on her seventeenth birthday. I had lost it one night in the garden and never could find it. I was nearly heartbroken.” Mama smiled at the ring fondly.
    “Mama, what is that note peeking up from the lining?” Jonathan asked as he pointed to a little piece of paper.
    Mama pulled it out. It read,
    “My darling Grace, I found this ring in a rose that your Father brought me this morning. You must have dropped it by mistake. I think it must have been when you accepted Henry’s heart and hand and put his ring in this one’s place. Darling, we are so happy for you! I will put this ring in a safer place, so that when you are ready to give it to your own daughter, you might. May the Lord bless you and Henry, my darling. With all my love, Mother”
    Maggie Beth & I had tears in our eyes when Mama finished reading that letter. Peter was more inquisitive. “Did you really drop that ring, or did you put it in the rose on purpose?” Mama laughed a little. “I dropped it when I put on Papa’s ring, and then we couldn’t find this ring anywhere! We spent at least fifteen minutes looking all over the ground for it. Your papa was on his hands and knees searching. If it fell in the rose, that explains why we couldn’t find it. . . ."

 What did you think?