Dear Matthew,
Happy birthday.
I invited our friends over, and we drank and ate cake and Mr. Smith brought over some gorgeous wooden fence panels. We spent the afternoon putting them up around our yard, and by evening we had them standing straight and painted nicely. I've always wanted a white picket fence.
I just thought I'd be building it with you.
Regardless, I'm glad to have friends like the Smiths and the Campbells. They have been very generous, and I'm excited to bring a change to our house. I'll need to paint the walls again soon, and in my grief I've left the house to fall apart. So I've resolved, over the rest of this year, to get it fixed up. The peach tree hasn't been letting me down, and I've had fruit nearly year-round. I've got enough money now to fix all the things necessary to make our house whole again.
Of course, it can never be whole again without you in it.
My heart is suffering the same problem. But I'm sure you're feeling the same, so . . . just wait for me, alright?
Happy birthday, my love.
Adeline
YOU ARE READING
Dear Matthew
Historical FictionAdeline Brown discovers that her husband, who has just been sent off to fight for the ANZACS in Gallipoli, has been killed in battle. She continues to write letters to him as she processes her grief and tries to live on without him as her house and...
