Margaret Ann woke and went about her daily routine. She made herself a cup of coffee, prepared her Scrabble board for her weekly game with her friend Stephen and sat in front of her kitchen window overlooking the neighborhood. “Silly little birds” she always thought as she watched the mail birds delivering the daily letters. How she enjoyed gazing at them fluttering about with their bright yellow wings and long legs. She was always amazed at how they knew where they were going. “Why were there so many today?” she wondered. “Valentines Day!” she remembered. “Humpff”. Ever since her husband Theodore passed away 5 years ago, the day had always left her on the bitter side.
Margaret Ann had lost track of time and soon was startled by her friend Stephen entering the house. “Is it 2 already?” she thought to herself. The two always played Scrabble on Fridays at 2pm. Margaret Ann got up, greeted her friend and the two sat down for their game. Nearly 40 years of friendship, the two always had something to talk about.
Their conversation was soon interrupted by a tiny thump at the door. Margaret Ann got up, opened the door and looked down. “A letter?” she announced out loud with amazement. She picked up the letter and went back inside. The letter was very simply addressed.
“Margaret Ann
The blue house with the purple rocking chair on the front porch”
“Who on earth would send ME a letter today?” she wondered as she slowly opened the card. Before she could fully open the envelope, the contents popped out and the two friends watched in bewilderment as the letter unfolded into a lovely red paper heart. The heart stood nearly 3 feet tall and in the very center hung a small note.
“Be mine!”
“Meet me at the park. I’ll be waiting on our bench near the lake at dusk”
“Be mine?” “Our bench?” Margaret Ann was completely confused and immediately looked to Stephen for answers. “It looks like you have a secret admirer Margaret.” explained Stephen. “Admirer? That can’t be right. Who would want ME to be their Valentine?” wondered Margaret. “Im not sure, but if you plan to meet this admirer, you had better get ready. It will be dusk in a couple hours” Stephen said as he was putting on his coat to leave.
Margaret Ann could hardly get a word in before the door had closed. She was now left to make her own decision. “Should I go?” she wondered as she paced back and forth in her bedroom. She had always been an inquisitive person. “Maybe it was the neighbor down the street that always smiles at me when I walk past? Maybe the young gentlemen at the Yacht Club that always orders my lunch for me? He knows me so well, but do any of them even know of this park? Make the local delivery man who always gives me a treat when he drops off a package?” The idea of never knowing who sent the letter was reason enough to put on a nice outfit and make her way to the only park in town.
It had been many years since Margaret Ann had been to the park. She was going off of pure instinct as she made her way through the dense paths to where she thought the lake might be. As she approached the lake she remembered spending a lot of time here with friends way back when. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember who the friends were, but she recalled always having such a good time.
The dense brush cleared to reveal an open shore line. The beach was pure white and silver fish walked along the surface of the calm winter lake. In the far distance she could barely make out a figure sitting on a bench. She walked around to the far side of the lake and as she approached the man on the bench stood up. “Stephen?” She said with amazement.
Before Margaret Ann could say a word, Stephen held out his hand and took her over to the bench to sit. Margaret Ann was pleasantly surprised, but very confused. “The letter was from you?” “Yes, Margaret. Do you remember this spot? This is where we first met 40 years ago today. You had come for a walk and sat down next to me while I was reading.” Margaret Ann just sat in amazement as Stephen continued his story. “You were so beautiful with your long blonde curly hair and those deep green eyes. You still are.” Margaret Ann’s eyes began to fill with tears. Stephen continued “I knew I loved you from the moment we locked eyes, but you had been seeing Theodore at the time and I didn’t want to intrude on what you two had. So I waited until the perfect day”
Stephen could see the confusion in her teary eyes, so he paused to let her take in what he was saying. After a few moments of silence Margaret Ann threw her arms around Stephen and gave him the warmest hug she could. “You have given me the best Valentines day gift anyone ever could.” With those words, the two stood up and walked home hand in hand.