come home, go to law school, become a successful lawyer, and together Annie
and I would have lots of kids and change the world at the same time.
I’m sorry you never got to meet her, Ma. She is smart and fun to be with, but what I love best about her is that she doesn’t
give a hoot what other people think. Annie has the rest of her life to live, and we’ve only known each other a short time,
so instead of her, I’m telling you. She is the love of my life, Ma, forever and always, I just know it. I’m telling you this,
Ma, because I love you too much to let you go on thinking I hadn’t found her.
Tell all the guys I’ll do what I can for you and them from up here. And tell Pop to stop drinking. That stuff will kill him
one of these days.
Love always.
Your son,
Kevin
Anna would never remember how long it was before she was composed enough to speak. And when she was, John told her the most
wonderful stories of the boy-man she knew so long ago, for so short a time. Kevin had been twenty-two, and Anna only twenty.
She had never let herself think or fantasize about what their future would or could have been together had he not been killed.
She had just pushed all the pain right out of her heart, and tried to get on with her life.
Anna sat with John, looking into the sea, and her eyes filled with tears as she finally allowed herself to see and feel the
wonderful boy with the curly black hair and sparkling blue eyes. She could smell him again and her heart filled with anguish
and joy. Every fiber of her being ached and longed for him in a way she wouldn’t have thought possible after so many years.
For a brief, intense flash, Kevin was alive again in her heart.
Anna looked down at the paper in her hand, and whispered, “I loved him with all my heart, John, and when he died, a large
part of my soul went with him.”
As she said the words aloud for the first and only time in her life, a great sense of joy mixed with indescribable sorrow
filled her soul. And in that moment, she knew, without a doubt, that her life had been what it was because that was the way
it was meant to be.
John and Anna sat on the rock looking out at the ocean for what seemed like a very long time. They spoke to each other from
their hearts. Their tears eventually dried, leaving streaks and stiffness on their cheeks. Anna would look back on that day
and know she would have stayed there forever had John not been the first to go.
“I have to leave now, Annie. It really is time for me to go. Meeting you has helped me make a very difficult decision. Words
cannot express how happy I am to know you. Annie, remember today for the rest of your life, and know that you will be in my
heart for all time. We have forever to sort this all out, but now I really must go.”
Anna, still shaken by the experience, just sat and watched him walk down the beach, around the cliffs, and out of sight. She
looked again at Kevin’s letter, reading it another time or two, and became aware of a very gentle breeze softly stirring around
her. With the wind kissing her face and ruffling her hair, Anna slowly closed her eyes, feeling and tasting the sea breeze
and salt spray. She very carefully folded her letter and slipped it into the pocket of her parka. Taking a deep breath, she
got up from the rock and readied herself for the hike back up the beach.
Retracing her steps in the sand, Anna was overcome with emotion. Was it that she felt so alone after the solace of his company?
Or was it exhaustion from feeling her pain and her grief?
Anna reached into her pocket for a tissue, and in that same instant, she saw Kevin’s letter fall to the sand. Stunned, she
watched it skip along the water’s edge. She quickly ran to grab it, but just as her fingers grasped at its edge, the letter
was caught in a gust of wind. The paper soared up into the sunlight.
As if in a trance, Anna felt the muscles in her arm and hand tense as she
and I would have lots of kids and change the world at the same time.
I’m sorry you never got to meet her, Ma. She is smart and fun to be with, but what I love best about her is that she doesn’t
give a hoot what other people think. Annie has the rest of her life to live, and we’ve only known each other a short time,
so instead of her, I’m telling you. She is the love of my life, Ma, forever and always, I just know it. I’m telling you this,
Ma, because I love you too much to let you go on thinking I hadn’t found her.
Tell all the guys I’ll do what I can for you and them from up here. And tell Pop to stop drinking. That stuff will kill him
one of these days.
Love always.
Your son,
Kevin
Anna would never remember how long it was before she was composed enough to speak. And when she was, John told her the most
wonderful stories of the boy-man she knew so long ago, for so short a time. Kevin had been twenty-two, and Anna only twenty.
She had never let herself think or fantasize about what their future would or could have been together had he not been killed.
She had just pushed all the pain right out of her heart, and tried to get on with her life.
Anna sat with John, looking into the sea, and her eyes filled with tears as she finally allowed herself to see and feel the
wonderful boy with the curly black hair and sparkling blue eyes. She could smell him again and her heart filled with anguish
and joy. Every fiber of her being ached and longed for him in a way she wouldn’t have thought possible after so many years.
For a brief, intense flash, Kevin was alive again in her heart.
Anna looked down at the paper in her hand, and whispered, “I loved him with all my heart, John, and when he died, a large
part of my soul went with him.”
As she said the words aloud for the first and only time in her life, a great sense of joy mixed with indescribable sorrow
filled her soul. And in that moment, she knew, without a doubt, that her life had been what it was because that was the way
it was meant to be.
John and Anna sat on the rock looking out at the ocean for what seemed like a very long time. They spoke to each other from
their hearts. Their tears eventually dried, leaving streaks and stiffness on their cheeks. Anna would look back on that day
and know she would have stayed there forever had John not been the first to go.
“I have to leave now, Annie. It really is time for me to go. Meeting you has helped me make a very difficult decision. Words
cannot express how happy I am to know you. Annie, remember today for the rest of your life, and know that you will be in my
heart for all time. We have forever to sort this all out, but now I really must go.”
Anna, still shaken by the experience, just sat and watched him walk down the beach, around the cliffs, and out of sight. She
looked again at Kevin’s letter, reading it another time or two, and became aware of a very gentle breeze softly stirring around
her. With the wind kissing her face and ruffling her hair, Anna slowly closed her eyes, feeling and tasting the sea breeze
and salt spray. She very carefully folded her letter and slipped it into the pocket of her parka. Taking a deep breath, she
got up from the rock and readied herself for the hike back up the beach.
Retracing her steps in the sand, Anna was overcome with emotion. Was it that she felt so alone after the solace of his company?
Or was it exhaustion from feeling her pain and her grief?
Anna reached into her pocket for a tissue, and in that same instant, she saw Kevin’s letter fall to the sand. Stunned, she
watched it skip along the water’s edge. She quickly ran to grab it, but just as her fingers grasped at its edge, the letter
was caught in a gust of wind. The paper soared up into the sunlight.
As if in a trance, Anna felt the muscles in her arm and hand tense as she
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