A Letter Delivered Thirty Years Late
Chapter 3 - A new address
They did not become close that afternoon. Rose still disliked Ana's habit of giving advice, and Ana struggled with Rose's sharp jokes. But they agreed to walk together the following Sunday.
Before leaving, Rose asked to keep the letter. Ana said she had meant it for her all along.
A week later a new envelope arrived at Ana's home. Inside was a photograph of their mother laughing over a burnt birthday cake. On the back Rose had written: I forgot we were both in the kitchen that day.
Ana replied with a memory of her own. Soon they were exchanging stories neither could complete alone.
The old letter went into Rose's drawer beside their mother's photographs. The new ones stayed on her table until she answered them. Neither sister called that forgiveness yet. They called it correspondence, and for the first time in thirty years, it was moving in both directions.
