7/3/12
Jack,
I went for a walk; there's food waiting for you. I'll be back soon.
Love,
Rose
7/13/12
Rose,
I fixed the door and put a better lock on it. I don't want to hear how we can't afford it. We can always afford to be safer. I'll be home around five.
Love,
Jack
7/14/12
Jack,
Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not say. I know how important safety is. And thank you. I feel much better being here alone now.
Love,
Rose
7/30/12
Jack,
Do you want the thick, smooth paper or the plain paper? It doesn't matter. I'm getting you the nice paper. It's your birthday. How can I get anything else?
Love,
Rose
7/31/12
Rose,
I can draw on anything. You could've given me some smooth rocks, and I'd've found a way. I could draw on you. As long as it's blank, all paper's the same to me. Don't worry about getting a nice kind. I'm just gonna cover it with pictures no-one but us will see anyway,
But thanks for getting me the nicer paper. I love it.
Love, Jack
8/3/13
Rose,
You need new shoes. Don't argue with me, okay? I left you money. Right here on the table. Buy yourself some shoes. And anything else you want. You need shoes, though. Please, Flower Girl, don't argue with me.
Love, Jack
8/3/12
Jack,
How dare you order me around. Do you think I don't know when I need shoes? It just so happens I was already planning to get some. Yes, I was. I was. I mean it.
I got you a shirt with the rest of the money. You needed a new one. Yes, you did, dear one. Don't argue—see how that works both ways? And while we're on the subject, you need socks. Do you want me to get them? You can't keep going around in the ones you have; they're full of holes. It will be getting cold soon.
Love,
Rose
8/17/12
Jack,
I went for a walk.
Love,
Rose
8/17/12
Rose,
We met during your walk. So, I guess I didn't need a note after all.
Love,
Jack
9/2/12
Rose,
Do you know how lovely you are? I want to watch you all day. We don't really need money, do we? I can quit my job; you can quit yours, and we can just stay home all day, right? Since we can't, would you permit me to draw you tonight?
Love,
Jack
9/2/12
Jack,
Of course we can quit our jobs, and of course you can spend all day with me. Let's become street performers and live off the coins people toss at us. That sounds like fun. I think we could make it work. And you can draw me anytime.
Love,
Rose
9/15/12
Jack,
Please don't turn on the light when you come in. It makes my headache worse. I made you a sandwich.
Love,
Rose
9/16/12
Rose,
Do you feel any better, darling Rose-Petal? Stay home today. You've been doing too much.
Love,
Jack
10/5/12
Jack,
I love your hair, but you'd better get a haircut. People are starting to talk. I'm trying to convince myself we should care.
Love,
Rose
10/5/12
Rose,
Of course we shouldn't care, but I'll get a haircut anyway. Other people's opinions seem to matter so much, don't they? Sometimes I wish we could go somewhere with no other people, just us, somewhere we can be free to do whatever we want. Would you like that?
Love,
Jack
10/5/12
Jack,
Haven't we been trying to reach that place this whole time?
Love,
Rose
10/26/12
Jack,
Do not get me anything. I mean it. We're supposed to be saving right now. But why both saying anything. You don't listen.
Love,
Rose
10/27/12
Rose,
It's not only your birthday, but it's also my first birthday with you. And I seem to remember a box of very nice drawing paper appearing on mine. So, Happy Birthday, Flower Girl.
Also, this is not your entire present.
Love,
Jack
10/28/12
Jack,
That was simply too much. Don't argue with me, dear one. We can't possibly have had that much money. A stack of books and a ring? No, my sweet boy, there's something wrong with that picture. Please tell me you didn't go without something. It's getting colder. You got the flannel shirts you said you needed, right?
Love,
Rose
10/28/12
Rose,
Don't worry. I have everything I need. If I get cold, I can always hold you.
Love,
Jack
11/8/12
Rose,
Would you mind if I asked you to never cut your hair? It's perfect. Sometimes I'm jealous.
Love,
Jack
11/8/12
Jack,
I'm delighted you like it so much, but perhaps you should try washing it sometime. You don't know how easy you have it with your short hair.
Love,
Rose
11/9/12
Rose,
I would happily wash your hair anytime. I'm free tonight at seven. Can I count on meeting you in the bathtub? I have to be in the tub with you, of course. There's just no other way to do it. I hope you don't have any other plans. We might be in the bath for a few hours.
Love,
Jack
11/26/12
Jack,
I love you. That's all.
Love,
Rose
11/26/12
Rose,
That's all? No, honey, that's everything.
Love,
Jack
12/4/12
Jack,
I knitted this for you. Yes, I did! Me. All by myself. Do you like it? It's alright if you don't.
Love,
Rose
12/4/12
Rose,
I love it. Thank you. When did you make it? That's not what you've been working on. Sneaky Flower Girl.
Love,
Jack
12/22/12
Rose,
I don't want to hear a word against presents. I know you already got me something. I saw you hiding it in the closet. I haven't looked. I promise.
Love,
Jack
12/22/12
Jack,
I don't know what you're referring to, and furthermore, I am insulted by your accusation. Me, hiding something? I would never. And what makes you so certain I would spend my hard earned money on you?
Stay away from that closet. You promised.
Love,
Rose
1/3/13
Jack,
It's too cold to go anywhere today. I'll stay home if you will. I'll be in the bathtub, waiting for an answer.
1/4/13
Rose,
It's been too long since we spent the day at home. Alone. You have the best ideas. Did you know that? I've missed you; I didn't realize how much until yesterday. Christmas doesn't count. That was a holiday everyone gets. I like it better when we make our own.
Love,
Jack
1/27/13
Jack,
I'm sorry for being jealous. I can't help it. I never said I didn't trust you. But have you ever looked at yourself? Do you understand how beautiful you are? Add that to your sweetness, your humor, and your ability to make pancakes, and you're quite the catch. Every woman who sees you wants you, if only a little. Sometimes I get scared this has all been too good to be true. Any second now, I'm going to lose you. I'm going to wake up and find out I'm really married to—well, someone else.
Love,
Rose
1/27/13
Rose,
That's not gonna happen. If you're dreaming, then so am I. I understand how you feel. I hate the way men look at you, even though I'm proud to be standing next to you. You're so beautiful. I'd be staring too if you weren't my wife. I did stare once. But it was different. I knew we'd find each other. I'm sorry for getting angry. You had a right to be upset, but I'd never do anything to hurt you. If you never trust anyone else, trust me, Rose.
Love,
Jack
2/19/13
Jack,
I'm so tired of snow. Can we spend next winter somewhere warm? No matter what I do, I'm always cold. It's awful. Snow keeps getting in my shoes, too.
Love,
Rose
2/20/13
Rose,
Here's a pair of boots and some wool socks. Why didn't you say something earlier? What else do you need but aren't telling me about? I'm sick of the snow too, and I'm sick of being cold. We'll go somewhere nicer soon, I promise, somewhere with better weather. Try to stay warm until I get home. I'll keep you warm then.
Love,
Jack
3/5/13
Rose,
Would you please try and fix the hole in my scarf? I'd do it, but I can't knit. Maybe you could teach me how? It kind of looks like fun.
Love,
Jack
3/6/13
Jack,
Here's your scarf; the hole is fixed. It only took a few minutes. I'd be happy to teach you how to knit. But I want to learn how to use an ax properly. And fight. I know you know how to do both. You've told me too many stories, dear one.
3/7/13
Rose,
Fine. I'll teach you to chop wood, though I don't know where we'll get any in Boston. I never said I was good at fighting, just that I've been in them. I can take a hit, but that's not something I'll teach you how to do.
Love,
Jack
3/28/13
Rose,
Here's the scarf I was working on last night after you went to bed. I'm not sure I did it right, though. Can you help me later?
Love,
Jack
3/28/13
Jack,
So, there is something your hands can't do, after all! I'm only joking, dear one. You'll get better if you keep at it. I'll help you.
Love,
Rose
4/13/13
Jack,
Has it really been a year since we met? It feels like so much more time has passed, and yet, it feels like it all happened yesterday. Was that miserable girl really me? I might not have jumped, but if you hadn't been there, I would have fallen.
Love,
Rose
4/13/13
Rose,
I know how you feel. This has been the most wonderful year of my life. I wish I knew how to say it better than that. Now I understand why men give their wives jewels. You're rare and precious and beautiful, and I wish I could give you something equally so. I don't care about being poor until it keeps me from giving you something to show how I feel.
4/13/13
Jack,
I don't need anything but you. I love you. We have food and clothes and a warm, dry place to sleep. We're healthy. What else can we need? Oh, here's a few blank sheets of paper. You may need those.
Love,
Rose
4/14/13
Rose,
I know exactly what to do with this paper. I know you like to spend Monday nights reading, but would you mind doing something else tonight?
Love,
Jack
4/15/13
Jack,
How do you expect me to get anything done if you insist on keeping me up all night? Every time I dozed off, there you were again, reaching for me with those hands of yours. Someday, we'll have enough money to have separate rooms, and then you can get a mistress like all the other husbands. And maybe I'll get some sleep.
Love,
Rose
P.S. Was it my imagination, or did the stars burn more brightly than ever last night?
4/15/13
Rose,
It wasn't your imagination. And who wants a mistress when I have you, who can make the French soup I love and who knows all the other things I love?
Love,
Jack
4/16/13
Jack,
You're a silly man. And I love you. All of you. Your eyes and your soul and your stories and your hands and your art and how kind you are to everyone and the way you get up early to make me breakfast, for no reason, and your hair and the way you kiss my hands. The way you kiss everything else.
Love,
Rose
4/17/13
Rose,
We never finished that drawing.
Love,
Jack
5/6/13
Rose,
Everything's done. Stay in bed, I'll be back to check on you around noon. If you found this note, then you obviously found your breakfast. The medicine is here too. Take some and go back to sleep.
Love,
Jack
5/6/13
Jack,
I went back to sleep.
Love,
Rose
5/17/13
Jack,
I fixed the hole in your pants, but I'm not sure how much good it will do. Darling boy, you need to get new pants. You can only sew such worn clothe back together so many times.
Love,
Rose
5/18/13
Rose,
Thanks for fixing them. And I'll get new pants when you get a new dress. You can only sew the one you have back together so many times too.
Love,
Jack
5/19/13
Jack,
Can we get out of Boston soon? And if you insist, we'll get some new clothes together next week.
Love,
Rose
5/19/13
Rose,
I insist.
Love,
Jack
1998
Lizzie found the letters in an old trunk in the attic. They were stacked neatly and held together by ribbons. As she looked through them, she realized they were divided into different periods of time. Each period was marked by a different color ribbon. They were written on napkins, notebook paper, scraps of paper, drawing paper, the backs of other notes, with pens, pencils, and even bright crayons. They smelled like old books. The writing was old-fashioned, the kind of beautiful script no longer used. She recognized it as that of her grandparents.
Her grandfather, Jack had died in 1994, at a hundred years old. Her grandmother, Rose, lived until 1997, just a month shy of her hundred and first birthday. Now, nearly six months later, Lizzie was finally getting around to cleaning out their house. It was an overwhelming task. Once they finally settled down, they brought all their mementos from the road with them. They filled the house with art, antiques—or what were now antiques—and odd finds from secondhand shops. Photographs from their years together were in nearly every room. The closets were brimming with things—clothes, shoes, books, old records. Lizzie had found one of everything, or so it seemed.
She quickly gathered the letters and carried them downstairs, eager to read more.