Tom ( A Mostly True Story)

     More Letters From Paradise

     Tom  (A mostly true story)

  She had always known that she had loved Tom. Even in grade school when he had  pushed her on the swing. But as they grew older and graduated, they began to drift apart. She went away to a small Christian college, and Tom entered the university.     Upon graduating, he found a job and began taking flying lessons.

Tom was often to be seen flying over town and buzzing farms. That is until a farmer reported him for scaring his cows.

War came to Europe in 1914, the same year that she fell in love. Tom was invited to the wedding, but he sent his regrets saying that he was needed at his job.

It was nine months later that Tom received the news that she had delivered a baby boy. Tom bought a sterling silver baby mug with the name of the baby engraved, and sent it to her. After that he crossed the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario and took a ship to England.

Tom quickly enlisted in the Royal Air Force. His university education and flying experience caused him to become an officer.

Not long after, she began receiving letters from Tom. She did not tell her husband, but buried them in her underwear drawer. She did did not write back to him. But the letters continued to come. Tom wrote about the bravery of the British pilots who flew against the Huns. He also wrote about how he had always loved her, and his hope of their being together. She cried, and put away his letters.

The letters grew more grim as Tom wrote about his friend being shot down over the trenches. And one morning in the mail a gray envelope arrived, and she knew without opening it, that Tom would never return from France.
   
        Aloha
        Grant