The Envelope

We received a letter from the husband's mother yesterday.
It remains unopened on our kitchen countertop.

It causes me to flash back to this time last year, when a similar envelope arrived...

The mother-in-law had just moved out of our house... at the end of August.
We were still getting used to her not being here.
Getting used to speaking out loud things we normally wouldn't have wanted her to hear...
Getting used to carrying adult beverages and fast food into the house without hiding it ashamedly under our jackets...
Still shuddering when we'd hear an old woman's voice before we'd realize it was just one of the neighbor ladies walking by on the sidewalk...

Middle of September, we received a letter from her new address.

I had fetched the mail that day, and I handed the whole lot of it to the husband.
He sorted through it, and froze when he saw his mother's handwriting.
Then he dropped the mail on the table and backed away.

"Aren't you going to open it?" I asked.

He pointed at the envelope from a distance and replied, "There has never been anything good in one of those."

"But it's been eight years since you've gotten a letter from your mother..."

"Then YOU open it!"

Of course, he was right.
There wasn't anything good in it.
Mostly complaints. Not one happy thought.
Funny how some people sound just like themselves when they write...

Anyway...

Today, we have this letter.
And it sits unopened.

"Aren't you going to read it?" I asked the husband after we'd had it for 24 hours.

"I'm not ready for that yet," was his answer.

Yeah, I think we need a trip to the liquor store first...