The Way We Were

This story is one I thought about not posting here. It was written just after Thanksgiving of 1999. The Theme was, predictably, "the way we were". The story is not as autobiographical as it may appear and yet there are a few people out there who know exactly who I wrote this story for. As I re-read it again just now I nearly decided not to post it but what the heck, the person that it was written for may actually read it.

Personal Journal Entry  7/24/2028

Thirty years ago to the day that I was with you my love.  Can you believe it? Oh how I wish I could talk to you about it in person not through my journal but its now been almost 25 years since we lost contact when you asked me not to write again so you could fix your marriage. Oh I don't blame you, it allowed me to work on mine and its doing wonderfully. We're both now past our 50th anniversaries, or I assume you are. I wish I knew.

Remember when we met there on AOL? I remember you answering my pen pal ad and the first words in your letter were that you were not interested in romance. I remember how relieved I was, a wonderful long literate letter and no chance I'd be hurt again. Oh we tried to hard, nearly two weeks we wrote every day until you asked me how I felt about you and I took a chance and told you that although I'd tried not to I'd fallen in love with you. I was so
scared when I sent that letter. How can I explain the high when I got your reply that admitted your love for me also? It was such a wonderful feeling.

I remember all our conversations about how we merely completed each other's marriages and how we'd never do anything to hurt one another, how nobody else would ever understand loving two people at once. Well in the end we've been proven right. I still to this day love you even after all this time. Ultimately we did improve our marriages. I just wish I could still have what we had.

I loved all the letters. The morning chats. The evening chats. Making love to you online, something else nobody would understand. The other things we did to express our love.

And then 30 days ago today I laid eyes on you for the first time. What a glorious week we had together. It was all so wonderful. We made so many plans for the next time and future times not dreaming that this was to be the one and only time. I could regret that but what we did have was so wonderful I'd rather dwell on that.

I wonderlove do you think of me as I do of you? I'm nearly 70 now and still I think of you and feel young again. I remember how young you made me feel then and you still do to this day. Do you find yourself seeing something and saying to yourself "he'd like that" I do that daily.

Even though things changed years ago I never tire of thinking back as I did today and remembering the way we were.