"You got something from your mom," Amy said as she handed Sheldon an envelope with Mary Cooper's address in the upper left corner.
Looking at the envelope, Sheldon quietly turned it over and opened the seal. In it, he found a note from his mother and another envelope. Unfolding the note from Mary, he read it to himself before moving to the second envelope.
"Sheldon, I thought you would appreciate this now. I've been searching for the right time to give it to you. Your dad wrote each of you kids a letter after his heart attack when you were nine. He was scared something would happen and he didn't want to leave anything unsaid. He instructed me to wait until the time was right, but didn't say when that would be, just that I would know when each of you needed it the most. Missy got her letter after finishing high school and Georgie got his the day he opened the tire shop. I don't know what's in the letter, it's still sealed from the day he wrote it. I hope that I was right in choosing now as the right time to give it to you. I love you, Mom."
Noticing the change in his demeanor, Amy questioned her husband, "What'd your mom send? You seem nervous all of a sudden."
"It's a letter from my dad. He wrote each of us kids one after he had a heart attack when I was nine and told my mom she would know when it was the right time for us to get them. She thinks now is the right time for me. Georgie and Missy got theirs years ago. Why do you think she's held onto this for almost thirty years and decided to send it now? No one has said anything about this to me. For all I know, she could be lying that it's actually from him or that Georgie and Missy also got one," Sheldon was skeptical of the sealed envelope in his hand.
"I highly doubt your mother would make up something like that," Amy put her arm around Sheldon and steered him towards the couch to sit down. "I'll make you some tea and give you some privacy to read it. If you don't want to read it, that's fine, too. You can wait until you're ready."
Amy set the tea on the coffee table in front of Sheldon and moved towards the door to visit Penny across the hall when Sheldon spoke again, "I'm going to read it, but I want you here."
"Okay," she replied, crossing the living room to sit next to him on the teal sofa.
With shaking hands, Sheldon carefully opened the seal on the envelope that his father had closed all those years earlier. He unfolded the paper and started to read it before unconsciously reaching for Amy's hand.
"Sheldon, I decided to write each of you kids a letter for Mom to give you when she felt the time was right. I asked her to not read them and I believe she will keep that promise to me. As you may remember, I had a heart attack when you were nine years old. That scared me and made me realize that anything can happen to us at any time. This is actually the third letter like this I've written for you. The first one was just after that heart attack and the second was when you graduated high school three years ago. Now you're getting ready to graduate college."
"First of all, I want you to know how proud I am of you. I know you're going to do great things that will change the world of science. All those science people will be making a huge mistake if you never win that Nobel prize you're always talking about."
"The most important thing I want to say in this letter is that I truly am sorry for what you saw earlier this year. I wasn't thinking straight at the time. I've never done something like that before and I don't ever intend to do something like that again. I appreciate you not telling your brother and sister about it. I've talked about it at length with your mother. My drinking has become a big problem, Sheldon. She's helping me get the help I need to get it under control. I'm not a praying man, but I pray that none of my kids ever have the same type of problems that I've been facing. My rewriting this letter to you is actually part of my program. I'm hoping you'll forgive me for what I've done to our family. I know you may never respect me again, but I hope that someday we'll be able to be civil towards one another."
"I know you're only fourteen and are more focused on your schooling than finding a girlfriend or having a ton of friends. That's okay. We've both seen how not focusing on school turned out for Georgie. Enjoy your education and never stop looking for the answers to those questions you're always asking. Don't talk down to anyone who might not be as smart as you. Your brain is the best thing about you, but it also causes you the most problems when you're with people who might not be as smart as you. Everyone is smart in their own way."
"I'm sure that someday, when you're least expecting it, you'll find the person who makes you the happiest you've ever been. That's all I want for my kids- to be happy. I hope your mother chooses to give this to you when you're at your happiest. I just want you to know that I'm proud of you and that I love you."
"Love, Dad"
Amy noticed the tears rolling down Sheldon's cheeks as he read the letter, but didn't say anything, only silently holding his hand while he reread his father's words. "It's really from him, Amy. I haven't seen his handwriting in years. I never realized I missed seeing it all of the time. His writing looks a like Missy's. I wonder if she knows that?"
"Are those tears happy or sad?" She asked squeezing his hand.
"Both? I miss him so much. He apologized for cheating on mom. I barely gave him the time of day after I saw him with that woman. I never knew how bad he felt for that. He was going to get the help he needed for his drinking and hoped I would forgive him."
Offering a small smile, Amy questioned, "Does the letter help you forgive him?"
"He's been dead for almost thirty years. How can I forgive him now? He'll never know if I decide to forgive him," tears continued to roll down Sheldon's face. Amy started to stand to reach for a tissue when he stopped her. "Where are you going?"
"I was just grabbing you a tissue. I thought you could use one," she replied as she reached for the box on the far side of the coffee table.
Sheldon plucked a few from the box and attempted to dry his eyes. "Thank you. I don't know when the last time was that I cried like this. It's stupid to cry over something as simple as a letter, isn't it?"
"It's not stupid at all. You were very angry with him before he died, so you suppressed a lot of what you were feeling at the time. It's never too late to forgive him, Sheldon. You might not be able to say the words directly to him, but if you feel the need to forgive him, you can do that whenever you're ready. Is there anything else that you'd be comfortable sharing with me? It's okay if you need time to process what he wrote."
Continuing to wipe his eyes, Sheldon smiled, "He said those science people would be making a huge mistake if I never won a Nobel. My dad knew I would win one. He would be so proud of us, Amy. I have to agree with him that the Nobel committee would have been making a mistake not to have chosen us. I wish he could have met you. I know he would love you. Why do you think my mom decided now was the right time to send the letter? My life has never been better."
Hearing cries coming from their bedroom, Amy told him to hold that thought, "I'll be right back. Let me grab Leo and I'll tell you what I think." Amy quickly returned to the room with their two-month-old son, Leonard, more commonly called Leo. "You said your mom never read the letter, but she's your mother, she knows you almost as well as you know yourself. You've been a father for a few months now and you've done an amazing job, but maybe she thought you could use some fatherly advice. A little bit of a pep talk to help get you through the sleepless nights and never-ending diapers. You can always call her and ask why she thought now was the right time for you to get the letter."
"Look at this," Sheldon held out the paper for Amy to see what he was pointing at.
"What am I supposed to be noticing?"
"The date. It's dated for less than a week before he died. These really are some of my dad's last words to me. The past thirty years of my life could have been so different if he had talked to me instead of writing this letter. Maybe I wouldn't have been so angry and bitter towards him all those years. I don't want Leo to feel that way towards me."
Amy passed the infant to him, "I doubt he'll feel that way towards you. You aren't your father, Sheldon. From what you've told me about the time immediately before your father passed, you couldn't even tolerate being in the same room as him. Your dad knew what he needed to tell you, but he also knew you well enough to know that you weren't ready to hear it at the time. He wanted to make sure he didn't leave anything unsaid, just like your mom said in her note."
Looking at his son, content in his arms, Sheldon replied, "I guess you're right. I'm glad my mom thought now was the right time to send me this. I don't know if I'll tell mom, or Missy, or Georgie what he said, but I am glad to have the letter now. As rough as his last few months were, he really was a good dad. I want to be the kind of dad he was."
"You've only told me little things about him. Can you tell me more about him? Please? I'd really like to know him better," Amy asked, watching her husband watch their son.
"Did you know he's the reason I met you?"
Any tilted her head, questioning Sheldon, "How is your dad the reason we met? I thought Raj and Howard set you up on that dating site?"
"Stephen Hawking gave a lecture at Cal Tech when I was about eleven. I convinced the university to pay for my dad and I to come so I could meet him. After the lecture, we took a walk around the campus and came across the cafeteria. I commented that I could see myself going there one day. He replied he thought I would fit right in. Cal Tech was the first place I really felt like I belonged. If it weren't for that trip, I would never have moved out here. Leonard wouldn't have been my roommate. He wouldn't have introduced me to Raj and Howard and they wouldn't have blackmailed name into meeting you," Sheldon explained. "Therefore, my dad is the reason we're together and have Leo."
"I had no idea, Sheldon. That's a really sweet way to think of that trip. I'm glad he made the trip with you if it was the reason we met. It sounds like he supported your education."
Sheldon paused before answering, "He really did. He helped me make a video convincing my mom I was ready to go to college. He helped me interview the teachers and Dr. Sturgis to show my mom that it was the right time for me. We even had a chalkboard behind me, much like we have for Fun with Flags."
"Who's Dr. Sturgis? I've never heard you mention him before."
"He was a professor at East Texas Tech that allowed me to take his classes before I officially began college. He was supposed to help look out for me when I started classes, but he got another job and left before I started. He was also Meemaw's boyfriend," share Sheldon.
"Hold up," Amy put out her hands to stop Sheldon from continuing, "Meemaw dated one of your professors?"
Sheldon let out a chuckle as he shifted Leo in his arms. "She did. She dated a few other men at the same time she was seeing Dr. Sturgis. I haven't thought about him in years, though. I think I would have ended up a lot like him if I hadn't met you."
"How so?"
Sighing, he thought of his former teacher and mentor. "He was a bit of a loner. He didn't drive; he rode his bike everywhere. He had a breakdown at one point and ended up in the hospital for a while. I know my mom was scared the same thing would happen to me. He moved to work on the Superconducting Super Collider. We kept in contact at first, but I lost track of him when he moved up north somewhere after the project was cancelled."
Amy looked at Sheldon holding their son who had fallen asleep again in his father's arms and smiled. "Thank you for sharing what was in the letter with me. I really would like to hear more about what growing up in Texas was like for you."
"All you have to do is ask. I'd be more than happy to tell both of you more about it," he answered as he glanced at the sleeping baby.
"I'm serious, Sheldon. You should write a memoir about being the boy genius from small town Texas who went on to win a Nobel Prize. I'm sure a lot of people would find your stories interesting. You should at least record some of your stories so Leo will always have his dad talking to him. I know you made a digital copy of that tape of your dad and watch it from time to time. Leo could have the same type of memory of you if you recorded your stories for him."
