think we both knew this day would come. Maybe you
recall me telling you about your first love back when you just turned fourteen.
They say you never forget your first love and no doubt you’ll always remember
yours. I know right now you’d rather forget he even exists but as you get older
and more distance from this day you’ll look back on what you shared and how
uniquely wonderful it felt to be in love for the first time. It’s okay to be
angry, bitter, and hurting so long as those things do not define who you are as
a person for the rest of your life. Allow yourself the time to grieve. I don’t
know why your heart has been broken; I only know that it has finally happened. You
are turning into an amazing woman Morgan and not everyone will appreciate the
person you have become and certainly not the one who broke your heart. You will
heal, you’ll learn from this, and you’ll move on, stronger for what happened.
Don’t rush into the next relationship no matter how
tempting it may be. Give yourself time to sort through your feelings. Use this
to learn about the person you now are and will become. Through this experience
you will have a better idea of what you feel is important in a partner. You’ll
get an idea of what you like and dislike and you will be better prepared for
the next time someone has your heart.
A boy named Chris was my first love and the one who broke
my heart when I was sixteen. I cried for weeks. I truly believed he was the
one for me. I loved him and then I hated him. I both loved and hated myself for
what I surely must have been lacking otherwise he would not have left me for
another girl. I believed I would never get over him. Of course you know how
this story ends. I had to wait six years before I was to fall in love again and
this time it was with your father. I am so very glad I waited so long. When I
met him I had a better idea of who I was and who I wanted in a partner. In the
time between Chris and meeting your father I dated and I learned about myself
and about men. And because of what I leaned I was better able to handle a real
relationship. You know the story about when we met so I won’t belabor you with
the tale again. I am just glad I was mature enough to know how to be a good
girlfriend and one day a good wife as I am sure you will be one day too.
Let yourself be sad and let yourself be angry and
confused, then learn from the experience and when you are ready, move
one with your life. Just remember, your smart, beautiful, and have a good soul.
Anyone who leaves you has made a terrible mistake. Someday Morgan you will find
the one who appreciates who you are and will let you grow and will grow with
you. I have no doubt that you will love again one day.
With all my love for your grieving heart,
Your Mom.
It wasn’t until I was a lot older that I began to understand
how difficult it must have been for my mother to write all these letters. I can
tell how much love and other feelings she puts into each and every letter. It
must have torn her up inside knowing that she cannot be here with me on these
milestones. If I do not know anything else in life, there is one thing I know
of a certainty; and that’s how much my mother loved me.
FIVE
Trouble
I hear a
distant throaty rumble outside, then a couple minutes later there’s a knocking
coming from the front door. Cade turns off the TV and disappears down the hall.
A minute later two of the mangiest looking, leather clad men I have ever had
the displeasure of seeing, come walking into the living room. Guess this is
what happens when you’re the guest in an outlaw biker’s home; unwanted
degenerates drop by for beer.
Cade turns the
TV back on and this time it’s the NBA playoffs that they’re watching. A few
minutes later one of the men gestures in my direction and the three of them
begin talking furtively. I hate it when people talk about me like I’m not even
in the room when I am in plain sight. I swear