Sincerely, your Daughter

Chapter 35

            She lifted the lid from the box, placing the last letter on top of the rest. The woman had forgotten about these letters that she had once written, but the memories of her last school years came back to her as if she had lived them only a few days ago.

"Amelia, Darling, the car is packed you're the only thing missing in it !

- I'm coming James, I just forgot something !"

          Amelia looked around the room. The walls of her family home now void of the pictures that once hung there. She looked at the rooms through the doors that remained opened, she saw the kitchen stove gathering dust no being able to remember the last time it was used. Her eyes came back to the room she was in, and landed upon the fire place, she remembered when her father used to light it in winter and they would roast marshmallows over the flames. The corner next to it always hosted the Christmas tree, and the numerous presents she and the rest of her family would get each other.

         A young man in his late twenties opens the front door and looks at the woman standing in the middle of the room.

"Aisha is waiting in the car, you know that she can only go so long without seeing her mother."

         He walks up to Amelia and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer for a comforting hug. She looks down at the box she is holding.

"Do you think they ever found my letters once I moved in with you ?

-It wouldn't surprise me if they did, you know how curious your mother is. What you're going to reveal to them with these letters when we get there is probably old news by now, they probably know every little detail of the things that happened to you back then, so I don't think they will be that surprised when you read them the letter about our first date."

          She giggles and looks down at the box full of paper.

"I use to write so badly, I think I'm going to cringe a lot when reading these out loud to them.

- It may be cringy, but look how far it got you, If you hadn't practiced writing with these letters, you probably wouldn't be head of your own company by now. We better go, you know the plane leaves soon, and if you want to be back in Ireland before the sun comes up tomorrow, we better get moving."

           She looked around the room one final time before heading to the door. There she stopped and turned around looking down at the last letter she held in her hand.

Dear Mum and Dad,

          I'm not putting a date on this one, for we all know that it has been years since the last one. This is a thank you letter. I know I did one coming out of university, when I stopped doing these, but I just feel the need to complete my box of unsent letters with this final one, before sealing it up, only to be opened for when my daughter is old enough to go to university. It has been nearly ten years, and not a single days goes by without my mind wondering to those years when I ran around freely writing you letters like there was no tomorrow. My teen years are far behind me, but the memories have been following me. 

          My beloved husband and I are on our way to see you. Our old family home is empty, the family photos are all put away safely, and the furniture should already be on it's way to you. Dad wanting to move back to Ireland surprised us all, I must admit, seeing as it as been nearly twenties years that we have not lived there. But I guess you both looked happy when the for sale sign went up in the front yard of your american home. I stopped by one last time before the new family moved in, I wanted to show Aisha where I lived, before I found a home with James. I know I haven't lived here for a few years, but the times I spent here are forever engraved in my heart. I hope you are happier back in Ireland. Although it will be harder for us to visit you, I'm sure we will find the time. Heather will be coming to see you as well, for she hasn't forgotten her school years either. She is dying to see you guys again.

          I want to thank you, for everything you have done for me. You gave me so much when I was growing up, You gave me love, you gave me a home, a family. But you keeped on giving when the only thing I could do to repay you was to show you that the course you payed for me to follow was the only thing that mattered. Of course I got distracted along the line, with Heather appearing out of nowhere and James following her soon after. But you still gave me everything you could, and now I'm living my dreams, I have an amazing home with my husband and daughter, I have an amazing job thanks to the schools you payed for me to go to, I have an amazing life. All thanks to you. I can't thank you enough for helping me through it all, and I just wish me and James can be as good of parents for Aisha as you were for me. If I turn out to be half the woman my mother is, than I couldn't be happier. I hope I can keep on making you proud of me, even though we now live an ocean apart. I couldn't have wanted anything more from you because you already gave me your all, and for that I am eternally grateful to you. 

          To my paper parents, it has been a good ride, but I think I will start sending my letters after all. And to my real parents, thank you for everything, I love you so much.

Sincerely,

                         your Daughter.