February 14
Chapter 29
Happy Valentines Moonpie
My sweet boy Sheldon,
It warms my heart to have received your letter earlier than expected. It also warms my heart to hear that you have finally made a friend. Dear boy there is nothing physically wrong with you except maybe you have been bitten by a bug~ a love bug!
I will tell you a story. I once met this boy, he was stubborn and clever but he did not know I was just as smart and also a bit of a whip. He chased me up an apple tree once with his friends, but I threw those apples right at him. He followed me around the school house and would often sit with me on the back porch of the house. We would not talk much, but I would look forward to seeing him waiting for me to walk to the school. He fought a boy that pushed me into the mud and carried my books when I broke my arm. I knew that he would be there every morning by the gate to our farm. One time it snowed really badly and he got sick. I took him soup and read him stories from a book my mother had. The days turned into months and into years and we were the best of friends.
Soon the war started and we knew he might be sent away. When his letter came that he was leaving he ran the three miles to my house without stopping. He looked at me and I knew he would be gone. It felt like I had been hit in the stomach. I wished I could go back to all those times I ran away from him but this time run to him. Not waste any time. Time is so fleeting my dear Sheldon… Soon he was off to fight in the war. His letters came as soon as he was there; the horrors of the war were reflected in his letters. I still remember holding those letters as I cried myself to sleep, the smell of his hands were familiar to me and each and every letter was etched in my mind.
The months turned into years and the letters came fewer and far between, but still I found myself running home to the mailbox to see if one was there. I feared for the worst that the reports that were coming in were true and that he was one of the many of our boys that were lost to the enemy. I cannot count the tears that I cried. Just to think of it now fills my heart with a pain so great it is a though I was reliving it all over again. My momma told me to move on, to marry a boy from our church that had taken to try and court me. I would not have it Shelly, my heart belonged to another. I do not know when he stole it, but I know he took it with him and as his last letter said, "it is what keeps me warm in the cold night. " I know he left his with me and I planned on holding it close to me forever, no matter what.
One day as I ran up the path to the house, as I did I could see someone in uniform on the porch. I could not imagine it was him. I stood still, my legs unable to move, "his" heart in my chest beating loud enough to wake the animals in the barn. Before I knew it I was in his arms being twirled around like he would spin me on the tire swing in my tree when we were kids. There is no space on his face that I did not cover with kisses.
There was no way to describe this feeling Moonpie, there is nothing like it, no vital signs could be taken that will tell you that at that moment what we felt was pure bliss, a happiness unlike no other in the world. We were like to halves of a whole. The idea that your heart has somehow returned to you while unbelievable is possible. You might call me a romantic, but to this day, that boy has been the love of my life. Years later, I asked that boy when it was that he fell in love with me and he answered it hit him like an apple falling out of a tree.
One day I will be with that boy again, until then I hold his heart in me.
Do you see what I am saying Sheldon? In life, sometimes you meet someone that just gives you that feeling. A feeling that defies logical explanation, just go with it and in time maybe you too will have your own story to tell.
It will be an honor to accompany you and Penny to the Fair. I am sure we will have a wonderful time. But you know I get very easily tired lately, so I will rest in the expo center and take in a few shows. I will expect you to behave like a gentleman and show Penny around.
I know you do not like today, but it was on this day many moons ago that the boy in the story sat with me on the old elm in the front of your house and asked me to be his girl. Happy valentine's Day Moonpie!
With lots of love, kisses and hugs,
Your Meemaw
