Hey, Rosie

Jack parks the car under the shade of a tree, just in front of her house. He doesn’t believe his eyes. There’s a green ribbon on her door, it is big enough that he can see it from the other side of the street.

It was a week ago that he sent her his first letter.

"Hey Rosie. Long time no see. I was really pleased to meet you.

I won’t tell you where I’ve met you yet, but I’d like to play a game with you.. if you don’t mind; I will write you every week, if you like that, put a green ribbon on your front door for me to see. If you don’t put the ribbon on the door, I will leave and won’t show up again. 

And don’t worry, I’m no stalker, I know you and you know me too.

I will be hand-delivering your letters at your door, so you won’t be able to know who I am, but eventually, if you really would like, I can reveal my identity to you. Until then, let me give you the delight of guessing who I could be. At some point, I’ll ask you to put a red ribbon on your door if you want me to reveal my name- your neighbors may laugh at the idea of you celebrating Christmas in March, but I’ll take pleasure in knowing that you enjoy our game. I’m pretty sure that you will know me right away, though.

With love"

Jack had folded the piece of paper into four parts, put it in a white envelope and licked the envelope to close it. Then, he had realized he shouldn’t do that since there’s a pandemic, so he replaced the envelope with another one and glued it instead.

Now, sitting in his car in front of her house and seeing the green ribbon ignited fire within his heart, he wanted to write her another letter right away. So, he got out the piece of paper from his pocket and started writing.

"Hey Rosie. It’s been a week since I last sent you the letter. I really enjoy writing you. And since you put a green ribbon on your front door, that means you are interested. Maybe even intrigued, if I am lucky enough. It seems like you can’t wait, don’t you? Well, I’m of a good nature and I don’t want to keep you guessing either, a gentleman, am I not? Well, I will give you a hint, although we skipped the red ribbon part, but that’s okay. My name starts with a J. We were classmates, dear Rosie.   

I will write you down my address in case you want to send me back a letter.

I also have to tell you something about myself in return of your flattering curiosity; I’ve been fired recently from my job, it’s awful, I know. You’re the first person I tell. Cuts due to the recent pandemic, the company had lost a lot of money. Well, you’re the most beautiful thing that happened to me since I left my job. Seeing you was a bit of a surprise, but it was lovely. You haven’t changed a bit, same beautiful hair, but as you’re a grown woman now, your hair was tucked behind your ears and almost touching your shoulders. The afternoon’s sun was putting glints of gold in your dark brown hair.

You brought a familiar feeling with you. Although, with your new hair and clothes I didn’t recognize, I realized how quite long it’s been since I last saw you.  

Sending my love to you my friend.

Cheers"

He knew Rosie, forty-seven years ago –if you want to count- but she’s become a much more beautiful woman than she was as a kid. 

Two days later, there’s a mailman standing on Jack’s door, Jack searches through the usual letters, until he finds a pink envelope with a handwriting he recognized right away. Rosie Greenfield.

"Jack Macklemore, right? Now I know where you saw me. You were my Uber driver two weeks ago! What a coincidence. But you having a crush on me at elementary school, that’s the big surprise. You’ve decided to work as a driver for the time being?

It’s lovely you still write letters instead of emails or Facebook messages.  

With love

Rosie"

The letters kept going back and forth between them, unstoppable even though it took time to be sent.

"You’re a witty soul, aren’t you, Rose? Yes, I’m Jack. When you came into my car, you seemed like you were in a date or something, you were dressed nicely and you had a gold hoop earring that was swaying as the car moved, you wore a nice camel jacket. But from what I could see, you seemed a lot nervous which made me think that your date didn’t go so well. Okay, so, it’s easier to admit that I had a crush on you now that I’m an old and wrinkly fifty-seven year old man. But if I’ve learned something in the past years, it’s that I have no more time to waste. So I’ll say it, and if your feelings aren’t mutual, that’s okay.. I love you Rosie. No pressure at all, I just love you. If you don’t want to send me back anymore, I’ll understand. However, if you have any willingness to go down this road with me, I’ll be over the moons.

Seeing you made me realize I was a lonely man, I have no one to share life with, and if I have to choose someone to start over with, it would be you.

Yours

Jack"

A red ribbon! He felt his heart leap in his chest as he knocked on her door.

“I’m so thankful for losing my job right now. If it wasn’t for my job loss, I wouldn’t have found you” He said as she opened the door, hurried to say everything he feels at once.

Her blushing cheek and lowered eyes indicated that her heart wasn’t totally hers anymore.

“I’m just curious about a lot of things” She said finally, after they were settled in her living room.

“Ask me whatever bothers you” He said, feeling his leg a little bit shaking and hoping it isn’t obvious.

“Why ribbons, exactly?” She asked.

“Well” He sighted, “I’m a big fan of details” She looked perplexed, so he continued: “You used to wear colorful ribbons in your hair, tied at the bottom of a braid or around your bun.. And so, I figured, you loved’em. Don’t you?”

She laughed, loudly, for his surprise. “A girl changes her mind about fashion every now and then, Jack. I have the feeling that you always want to be attached to the past.”

“And why is that?” He asked, puzzled.

“Your letters. I mean, who writes letters anymore? You had my number from Uber’s drive, you could have called or texted. I’m curious to know why letters exactly.”

“Well, you know, handwritten letters are rare these days, we’ve replaced them with something much duller, I believe. I mean, text messages are just overrated. They don’t show you how much the other person cares, there are no feelings there even if you can use emojis, not like the rich writing. I’m an old romantic, you know.”

“Hmmm..” She said, thinking about it, maybe even convinced a little. “I love you too, Jack” She said.