Dear Peter,

Hope you remember me. I haven’t seen you in a long time. I should have written this thank you letter many years ago. Yes, a thank you letter.

We met when I was eighteen and you were twenty-eight. WWII had just ended and you returned—the handsome uncle of my best friend. I had heard so much about Peter. I never dreamed you’d come home and pay so much attention to me—calling, dating, romancing. There was only one thing wrong: we didn’t really like one another. We were bored all the time. I tried to drag you to your family get togethers for entertainment. You wanted to be alone and talk about how old you were and how much time you had wasted.
The only thing on your mind was marriage. I was the only working member of my family—mom and two brothers—and was not about to marry.We went on for almost a year. I couldn’t end this romantic scenario and you couldn’t give up on marriage. Then you began to talk to Sue at your plant. You also issued an ultimatum—talk marriage, otherwise Sue will. You stayed away. Then I heard you were going to be married. As a close friend of your niece, I was invited to attend. I did in great finery. I was mad at being dumped but felt sorry for the bride. I never would have wanted to be a runner up.

After a year of dating others, I met Hughie. We clicked right away. Talked for hours. Fun just being together. Two and a half years passed quickly. The next 57 even quicker. Thank you, Peter, for dumping me. It was the greatest gift of our time.

Sincerely,
Ellen, age 82