Mary and George were two people. They fell in love. This was a time when it was really hard to feel hopeful. Mary and George fell in love anyway. It felt like a miracle because hope itself felt unreal. Mary and George found love when they needed it most.
Love is a thing, like when George and Mary laughed together on bright mornings. They would share their dreams with each other and George would make promises that sounded really big almost too big to be true. George promised Mary that he would marry her once everything was okay once the world was not so crazy. Mary believed George because when you are in love it is easy to forget about what makes sense. George and Mary were, in love and love can make you believe in things that seem impossible.
War does not wait for people to be ready. It just happens when it happens. War never waits for anyone to be ready. People have to deal with war whether they're ready or not. War does not care if people are ready, for it or not.
When the World War broke out George had to go. He put on a uniform of his regular clothes. The last thing George thought about when he left home was Marys smile. George and Mary did not say goodbye in a way. They just held each other for a time and George made a promise to Mary that he would keep. The promise was still, in the air when George left. George was thinking about the World War. He was also thinking about Marys smile.
George and Mary stayed in touch through letters. Each letter that George wrote was a part of him that was still alive it had stories about the cold nights he spent the thick mud he walked through and the people he met who became like brothers to him because they were all scared. Mary wrote back to George with news, about what was happening at home she said prayers for him. She hoped that George would come back home to her. Mary kept telling George that she hoped George would return safely.
One day Mary got a letter in writing she did not know. The writing was not very good. It was shaky and short. It looked like the person who wrote it was, in a hurry and very tired. Mary opened the letter with hands that were shaking.
"To my dearest Mary,
I have been moved to the line after being shot by the enemy forces. It would be a lie if I said you should not worry about me. My wounds will not stop bleeding. That is a big problem. There is a lot of mud and bodies around us. This makes the threat of infection feel like it is getting closer every day. I am asking you and everyone who knows me to pray for me. The enemy forces are still a threat, to me and I need your prayers. I am counting on your prayers to help me get through this time. Please pray for me.
We have to eat this bad soup that is made from anything they can find.. As long as we have something to eat that is okay. This is not who I am. I do not want to hurt anyone and the other men who are here do not want to either. We are ordinary people who are stuck in a situation that we never wanted to be, in. The soup is bad. We eat it because we have to. We are people, not fighters. We did not choose to be here.
I sleep a lot because I want to see you in my dreams.. Now when I sleep I see bad things. I see people who're dead big explosions, dark clouds and smoke everywhere. The smoke never goes away. This war is very bad. It does not just hurt the people who die. It also hurts the people who're still alive. I am scared that it might hurt me too. This war is killing me even though I am still alive just like it is killing the people who're still in the war. The war and its bad things are always in my mind, like the smoke that never leaves.
About the smoke we have been given gas masks to test. The people, in charge say that the new gas masks are very effective. I have to go because my friends are calling me to play cards with them. That is all I can write about the smoke and the new gas masks for now.
I really hope I see you again someday until we meet again I hope we do meet again.
If that does not happen I promise that we will meet again in that place.
With all my love, George."
Mary read the letter by herself. It was very quiet. She did not cry out loud. The letter was so sad that it felt like her heart was sinking. Her chest was moving in and out slowly like it was falling apart from the inside. Mary just sat there with the letter feeling very sad, about what it said. The letter was really getting to her it was like Mary was feeling the pain of the words. It was making her feel empty inside.
Weeks after the war ended a man came to Marys house. The mans uniform was all worn out. His face looked really tired. It was the kind of tiredness that time could never make better. He told Mary that he was a friend of George. He said he was Georges friend.
He was really nervous. His hands were shaking. He gave her a ring and one final letter from him. The ring was small. The letter was his last one to her. He gave her the ring and the final letter, with his own shaking hands.
George always had this thing with him he said quietly. He said that if he did not make it back this thing had to get to Mary. Mary opened the letter from George carefully.
"To my beloved Mary,
If you are reading this it means I did not make it home like I said I would. Please forgive me. I am really sorry that I left you all alone in this world. I was stuck in it too. The world can be a bad place and I feel terrible for leaving you to deal with it by yourself. I was supposed to be with you but I got stuck and now you are left to face everything on your own and for that I am truly sorry forgive me for not being, for you.
I had that ring with me all the time. The ring was something I thought about a lot. I pictured the ring, on your finger. I thought about your smile when you would wear the ring. I thought about the ring and our life being very quiet and simple.. Life did something else. Life took us down a road. The ring and our quiet life together was something I imagined.
Do not blame yourself. Do not wait for me long. I do not want my love to become a prison for you. Let me go the way I have learned to let go of this world.
I really love you Mary. You are a special person, to me Mary. I have loved you for a time Mary and I will keep on loving you Mary until the day I die.
I want you to be happy. I want you to laugh and have a time. Maybe you can even love again. If you ever think about me I hope it makes you smile. I do not want you to be sad and cry when you remember me. I want you to remember the times we had and smile about them. Live your life. Be happy. Laugh often. Love again if you can.
Goodbye, my love. George."
Mary closed the letter with hands that were shaking badly. Then tears started falling down. They got the paper all wet. This was the paper that George had touched a time ago. Mary was holding the ring tightly hoping that it would still feel warm, from Georges hand but deep down she knew that would never happen because George was not coming back. Mary was holding the ring. Thinking about George.
George died on the day of the war. The world was finally, at peace and people were celebrating.. For Mary it was a different story. She had to figure out how to deal with losing George. Mary had to learn how to live with the loss of George.
She never got married.. She did not stop living her life either. The ring was something she kept not because it reminded her of a promise but because it was proof that someone had loved her with their whole heart. She kept the ring as a reminder that she had been loved like that at one time. The ring was a reminder of the love she had for someone and the love they had, for her.
Because some loves are not meant to be united by time. They are only meant to live forever within letters.