do this right. We’ll get hitched soon, and then off to Californ-I-A. Where I believe they have beds.”
We laughed again and then kissed all the way back to his car.
“You’ve made me so happy,” I said.
“Not half as happy as you have always made me.”
And so I’m ENGAGED! Soon to be Mrs. Whitehall. I’m still a bit in shock. But it’s a happy sort of shock.
All I really want to do right now is dance and celebrate. Right here in my yard, under the big bright full moon. I want to dance like when I was little and would dance with Robert and Levi in the shadows of my parents’ parties. Barefoot and laughing. I wonder, is there still room for dancing like children, for twisting and twirling, in this grown-up world?
Also, I just thought of something. Did Robert already tell Levi?
July 5, 1940
I woke up today an engaged woman! I let the sun fall over my fingers and moved my hand back and forth to see the rainbows on the walls. How did I ever manage to get so lucky?
I wish I could tell Mother the news. She’d be delighted and we’d do all sorts of shopping for my hope chest. Do I have one, I wonder? I’ll have to check the boxes. I’d also like to find her wedding gown. It would be old-fashioned, but who cares?
I do miss her....
Not until my father died and she was so ill did our relationship blossom into anything close to a mother-daughter relationship. Those months were difficult, but I felt that I’d gotten to know her for the first time. I suppose that is why I felt her loss so deeply. But no matter—I treasure those memories anyway.
Oh, here they come! I love the fact that every day, without fail, Robert and Levi still visit me...like silly playmates. They play football and baseball in the yard. They sit on my porch for hours playing cards. Those troublesome, loud boys. They’ll want to swim today; it’s hot. But I’d really like to finally finish unpacking. Especially now, as this is to be our home together once we are married. Who wants a home full of boxes of sad memories? They’ll just have to swim by themselves today.
July 6, 1940
Really, why must everything get so complicated just after it’s been settled?
Yesterday after the boys left, Robert came back to say goodbye to me, but he was in a hurry to get to his mother’s home in Beverly. Something about planning an engagement dinner. I didn’t even think to ask if he’d told Levi about us. I suppose I assumed he had, and I assumed correctly.
This morning I woke early, wrapped my shawl around me and stared at my ring, feeling a quiet happiness stirring in my soul, a warmth I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Robert makes me happy. He makes me feel safe and loved. And mother would smile down from heaven, as she’d always wanted me to marry him.
I smelled coffee brewing already as I made my way down the stairs and thought perhaps Marie had come to make an early breakfast, or even Robert, to celebrate. But it was Levi who was standing in my kitchen.
It isn’t at all rare for Levi to be in my house, but it is rare for him to be there without Robert.
“Good morning,” I said.
He just looked at me. Something was wrong; I could feel it.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t. But I didn’t know what to do. “Do you want me to fix your coffee and maybe make some toast?” I fumbled with the teapot.
“You’ve said yes?” he asked, and the way he said it let me know he wasn’t there to congratulate me.
“Of course I said yes. Robert and I have always had this in store for us. You know that.”
He smiled then, but it was a lonesome smile, one I knew well. He’d grown that smile when we were eleven, after his mother, Lucy, had died.
I made toast then because I didn’t know what else to do, and we went outside on the porch to eat our breakfast.
“Can I ask you something?” said Levi.
“Anything,” I said.
“Did you ever get the letters I wrote to you when we were kids?”
“You know I did! I wrote
We laughed again and then kissed all the way back to his car.
“You’ve made me so happy,” I said.
“Not half as happy as you have always made me.”
And so I’m ENGAGED! Soon to be Mrs. Whitehall. I’m still a bit in shock. But it’s a happy sort of shock.
All I really want to do right now is dance and celebrate. Right here in my yard, under the big bright full moon. I want to dance like when I was little and would dance with Robert and Levi in the shadows of my parents’ parties. Barefoot and laughing. I wonder, is there still room for dancing like children, for twisting and twirling, in this grown-up world?
Also, I just thought of something. Did Robert already tell Levi?
July 5, 1940
I woke up today an engaged woman! I let the sun fall over my fingers and moved my hand back and forth to see the rainbows on the walls. How did I ever manage to get so lucky?
I wish I could tell Mother the news. She’d be delighted and we’d do all sorts of shopping for my hope chest. Do I have one, I wonder? I’ll have to check the boxes. I’d also like to find her wedding gown. It would be old-fashioned, but who cares?
I do miss her....
Not until my father died and she was so ill did our relationship blossom into anything close to a mother-daughter relationship. Those months were difficult, but I felt that I’d gotten to know her for the first time. I suppose that is why I felt her loss so deeply. But no matter—I treasure those memories anyway.
Oh, here they come! I love the fact that every day, without fail, Robert and Levi still visit me...like silly playmates. They play football and baseball in the yard. They sit on my porch for hours playing cards. Those troublesome, loud boys. They’ll want to swim today; it’s hot. But I’d really like to finally finish unpacking. Especially now, as this is to be our home together once we are married. Who wants a home full of boxes of sad memories? They’ll just have to swim by themselves today.
July 6, 1940
Really, why must everything get so complicated just after it’s been settled?
Yesterday after the boys left, Robert came back to say goodbye to me, but he was in a hurry to get to his mother’s home in Beverly. Something about planning an engagement dinner. I didn’t even think to ask if he’d told Levi about us. I suppose I assumed he had, and I assumed correctly.
This morning I woke early, wrapped my shawl around me and stared at my ring, feeling a quiet happiness stirring in my soul, a warmth I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Robert makes me happy. He makes me feel safe and loved. And mother would smile down from heaven, as she’d always wanted me to marry him.
I smelled coffee brewing already as I made my way down the stairs and thought perhaps Marie had come to make an early breakfast, or even Robert, to celebrate. But it was Levi who was standing in my kitchen.
It isn’t at all rare for Levi to be in my house, but it is rare for him to be there without Robert.
“Good morning,” I said.
He just looked at me. Something was wrong; I could feel it.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t. But I didn’t know what to do. “Do you want me to fix your coffee and maybe make some toast?” I fumbled with the teapot.
“You’ve said yes?” he asked, and the way he said it let me know he wasn’t there to congratulate me.
“Of course I said yes. Robert and I have always had this in store for us. You know that.”
He smiled then, but it was a lonesome smile, one I knew well. He’d grown that smile when we were eleven, after his mother, Lucy, had died.
I made toast then because I didn’t know what else to do, and we went outside on the porch to eat our breakfast.
“Can I ask you something?” said Levi.
“Anything,” I said.
“Did you ever get the letters I wrote to you when we were kids?”
“You know I did! I wrote
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