The Lost Letters of Aisling

by Cynthia Ellingsen

Each moment they looked at each other, the history they shared passed like a current between them. It was interesting that they’d lived full lives, completely separate from one another. Then, the moment they reunited, it was like they’d never been apart.

My grandmother opted for an early dinner with Sullivan, so before getting ready, I took advantage of the quiet to write that apology note. It ended up being two pages, on the stationery from Aisling. I used my neatest cursive writing, and I poured out my heart until my hand hurt.

Grady and I barely knew each other. Yet he was about to witness one of the most painful moments of my life. I didn’t know him well enough to feel comfortable letting him in, but he was already there, and I didn’t know what to do with that feeling.

“Grandma, your mother was responsible for gaining information about the areas they traveled to. The man wouldn’t go so far as to tell me that she was a spy, but that’s what it was, and it’s something no one would have expected. Most people assumed she was just a woman traveling with her husband. She never wanted to leave you, Grandma, but probably felt she had no choice. She was duty bound.”

If you’d not left for America, you would have been killed, too. The fact that you were gone kept you safe. It gave your parents a sense of peace, to know that you’d be protected.”

“This is her yard at home,” my mother said. “The layout. It’s an exact replica.”

“Well, I’m watching him sit by the bed of the woman he’s loved from the beginning, in what could be the last days of her life, and all I can think about is how they missed out on so much time.”

“There’s something between us. I feel a connection with you that goes beyond what I can understand. Like I’ve known you much longer than I have, and I don’t want to be away from you again. I can’t put much sense behind it, but there. Now you know.”