The Shock of Rydell.
Dearest Danny;
I write this letter to you now, while I am still alive, and hope that one day you will find it in the box that is in the attic. I also put some things inside the envelope, incase you haven't found them yet. The first is the ring you gave me that night at the Drive-In. Even though I threw it at you before I walked out, you gave it back after graduation, and that meant a lot to me. I wore it all the time until we were married, and even afterward, kept it on my nightstand until this very day. Secondly, I want you to have the sprinkle of sand in the bottom of the envelope. It is sand that I saved the first time we met, at the beach, and have kept until now.
Danny, although I am gone now, I will never forget the memories that I have cherished all of these years. Please, Danny, never forget me. Oh, and before I leave you for the very last time, please give the two other letters in this envelope to Elizabeth and Mary. Make sure they know how much I loved them, and that I never wanted to leave them, especially this way.
I love you so very much, Danny, and I know that you will do a wonderful job as a single father raising Elizabeth and Mary into the nice young ladies that they will one day become.
Signed, with love,
Sandra D. Olson-Zuko
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As I looked further into the box in the attic filled with Sandy's thing, I felt the tears running down my face, but didn't bother to wipe them away. I just couldn't believe that Sandy, my dearest Sandy, was gone. It felt so unfair. That the battle Sandy had been fighting against the cancer was finally over. And the cancer had won. Now I was left with two daughters, Elizabeth, who is 10, and Mary who is 7, to raise into women as a single father.
That ring, and the small package of sand were the two things of hers that I would treasure the most, because I knew that she wanted me to have them. Elizabeth had her blanket, that Sandy had sewn herself when she was only nine years old. Mary had her pillows. She was convinced that they still had the "Mommy Scent".
I wasn't ready to raise two girls, to be strong for them, and to be here for them through all of their troubles for the rest of my life. I wasn't ready to be both a mother and a father, do all of the housework, do all of the cooking, work a job, maybe even two, to support my family well, and do anything that Elizabeth and Mary need. Especially through the next few months, or even years, while I still get used to the fact that the one girl I have really loved through my whole life is gone forever.
As I hopped into my car to pick the girls up from Rydell Elementary, I couldn't get the spinning thoughts out of my head. "What will my life be like?" and "How am I going to tell the T-Birds and Pink Ladies?" I realize that the Rydell High 20-year-reunion of my graduating class is coming up soon, and only Betty and Kenicke would have known about Sandy, but only if they read the obituary in the paper or heard talk about it.
I realized, as the girls jumped into the backseat, that only time would tell. I guess I'd just have to wait and see.