5

 

5

Dear May,

Niceties are best dispensed with in person, that is to say when I see you in a few months I will hand out all the hugs and kisses to you and my dear goddaughter that I have been saving since the last time I was home.

I would however be lax in my duty as next in line to primary care giver if I said nothing about the way she has left school at such a young age. My ears ring with your explanations and excuses, but the one thing you fail to concede is that even though schooling is not governed and it has been the norm for girls to leave school as soon as they are able to read or write. I know I should thank one star or another that she actually went to school, but then you did and for that God will bless mom and pop wherever they are. Don’t you think she deserves a better chance? An education will drive her to seek better for herself, rather than live under the lid you with which you have capped her world.

Darling May, when you visit for her to do her exam, please come with an open mind and see that the world is not entirely evil, see that it is an opportunity to make of your daughter the person you secretly wish you had become. Accept your lot, I won’t begrudge you that, you have been happy with Fred, but don’t force the same on a child who has only begun to blossom.

Though I wish I could take the child and mold her further into the person we know she can be, my life is of such a nature that I would be doing her a disservice.

Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing my dear sister again. I often wondered if our mother had had another daughter would she be named April or July, it brings a smile to my face much as I imagine the smile it brought to her face as she handed out her grace to us.

You can tell Fred that I will endeavor to keep him in good company and look forward to more than just one game of tennis on your visit.

Love to Girly

Take the best care

June

 

May stood with the letter in her hand and translated what she read into relevant snippets for Fred without including the admonishment her sister had so effortlessly worked into her missive.

“Well, it’s settled then. My sister appears to be looking forward to our visit. I just worry that she fills Girly’s mind with all kinds of flighty nonsense.”

“Darling,” said Fred, even twenty years or so into the marriage, she was still his darling, “She means well, and I guess its that somewhat sharp manner of hers which has kept her safe and sane since she moved away. If she was even slightly silly her life would not have turned out the way it has and we would be walking down the road to visit her, not going on an adventure,”

“I know,” May couldn’t help but be nervous. A quick honeymoon not too far away is the furthest she had ever wandered. She was happy here, she had her husband, her daughter, her job, and a home she had inherited and loved dearly. Though nowhere near old, May could sometimes dwell on the crust rather than the filling. What could she do? It was in her nature.  Girly and the hopes that both May and Fred held for her helped temper May’s thoughts. May knew well enough to think that it wouldn’t be fair to Girly to expect her follow exactly in her own footsteps, but heaven forbid that the child followed in those of her aunt.

May put down the letter and picked up the pie she had baked earlier that day.  She had waited until Girly had come home before she ventured out to meet the new neighbors. It would do Girly some good to meet new people. Heading toward the front door she called for Girly to join her.

May introduced herself and Girly to the woman who had answered their knock, handing her the pie with an aside that there was no need to hurry with the dish.

The Sampsons it turned out were a blended family of sorts. Mr. Sampson and Gerald, the older boy that Girly had seen earlier had come from a previous marriage where the wife had died. Lucille was on her first marriage and the girls who were indeed twins were Mr. and Mrs. Sampsons daughters. Girly had stopped listening the moment Gerald had flashed his wide white smile at her. Fortunately, before she started dreaming, the girls, a year older, each took an arm and marched her into the house. Ostensibly to show her their room, but rather to exchange information about the eligible in town. And naturally to teach Girly how to apply lip gloss.