Dear Jennifer,
I am glad to hear that you are well at this time. I know that it has been hard for you while I've been at the war, but I will be back home soon. We are finally forcing the Krauts into retreating! The day they leave everyone alone and go back to their country will be a good day for the world!
I know that you never wanted me to go off to the war, but there is a reason that I fear I never told you, despite our relationship. I didn't want to worry you with my determination to go to fight the Germans, but I had to go.
Before I met you, I worked on a ranch in Soledad. I was just one of the guys back then, travelling to find work, any work, sometimes trekking across entire states just to find a ranch willing to take me in. So I ended up at this ranch, and I managed to get work there, and keep it for a few years.
In those days, it was every man for himself. Everyone (including me, I'm ashamed to say) cared only about how much money they would have at the end of the week, month, year, and when they would have enough to stop working like that. Now, there were these newcomers one day, George and Lennie. It wasn't no coincidence that they turned up together either- they worked together, George making sure Lennie was alright and Lennie doing the work that earned them their stake.
These fellas, they were real nice; as nice as they come. George could play a mean game of cards, and Lennie wouldn't hurt a fly. Together, they could have run the ranch, hell, probably even the whole town! There was a definite feeling of trust from those two; I could tell that they had so much faith in each other that they put their lives in the other's hands.
Lennie, he had this obsession with petting things. When my dog had her pups, I decided that he could have one, so that he could have a bundle of joy in the hellhole that we were all living in. Boy, did he love that pup. Him and that pup were inseparable.
But one day something happened. The pup was getting more playful and it made to bite him, and he slapped it away. Snapped its neck. Then that shameful wife of Curley's went and interfered, and she ended up dead for it. That of course made Curley go after Lennie. He insisted that he would be the one to murder his wife's killer. George was made to go along, and in the end, it was him who shot Lennie, him who put an end to his dearest friend's life, him who felt the guilt of murdering him for a disability, a mental illness.
This is the reason that I came to the war; so that every man, woman and child might get equal rights, might be able to live a life without the fear of being treated differently because of their race, religion or disabilities. People shouldn't have to feel ashamed about these things. Guys like Lennie shouldn't have to suffer for something they can't escape.
I went to this war hoping that I would be a hero, but we are being forced to run over the trenches tomorrow. I fear that I may not return to see your beautiful face, or the face of our child. Please, raise them to believe that their father was a good man, a man who fought for the rights for everyone, a man who was a hero.
I love you so much, and don't ever forget that.
Love Slim.
