The Letter

You opened my letter? You are my daughter and that was a very disrespectful thing to do. You are trying to deny me this correspondence with a friend, one of the few pleasures left? You might be concerned, but it’s not necessary for you to get involved in things that are none of your business. You wouldn't like it if I opened your mail and butted into your life. If you must know, Nicholas is a good friend of ours from our youth. He, your father and I all went to college together. He got in touch to offer condolences after your father died. It was so nice to hear from someone who cares. Yes, you and your sister both care about me, but she’s far away and you probably wouldn’t have moved back if you hadn’t got divorced, though that was a good thing. You're well rid of him. You knew James always had a roving eye and you married him despite seeing plenty of warning signs. Now here you are on your own without a penny to your name. Never mind. You’ll get yourself organized and back on your feet again in no time.

  At least you’re a career woman. Not like my generation, who were brought up to get married. You know how lonely I’ve been since your father died. Why would you grudge me this pleasure? You don’t have to be concerned. Nicholas heard I'd been widowed and sent me a nice letter. Not an email or all that computer stuff that you young people use, but a real letter. You know that computers scare me. How did he know? He recognized our names from your father’s obituary. It was so beautifully written. He told me he knew it might seem odd that he was getting in touch after so long. No, I wouldn’t know him if I saw him. How would I? We were friends sixty years ago. We were in our twenties then. Life happened and we ended up in different places. He went to the United States, and your father and I stayed in England, so we hadn’t been in touch for a while. Well, quite a long time, now that I come to think about it. Time is strange as you get older. Things that happened years ago seem like just the other day. So many of my friends have died recently. Some of the others that I thought were friends haven’t been in touch. I think it makes them nervous when your spouse dies. They don’t know what to say, so they avoid you altogether. Losing your father after so many years together, not that it was always a picnic, mind you…it hasn’t been easy.

   You got in touch with the bank after you read the letter? They have no right to talk to you about my affairs. So, they told you they have some new protocols to recognize unusual transactions by older customers and they would follow up? Older customers? They must be trying to say that I’m senile. Since you read the letter, you’ll know that Nicholas has been having some problems lately.He didn't initially mention any of this. His wife died a few years ago and their daughter got into trouble with drugs and mental health problems. Medical care is so expensive in America. I’ve seen documentaries about it. I offered to help, but he turned me down at first. I insisted that he accept a little contribution. It was the least I could do.

   Yes, I know I ended up sending more, but that wasn’t a gift. It was a loan. He’s planning to pay it back. As a matter of fact, he was due to send the first payment last week. I sent him my bank information so he could make a deposit. I wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t been such an old, dear friend. I like to think someone would help you or your sister if I couldn’t. No, I don’t go online to check my bank balance. I told you I don’t understand computers. I’m sure I’ll get another letter any day now explaining why he hasn’t deposited the money.

   What? You did some checking and found out that Nicholas died two years ago? How can you do that? Oh, I see. On the computer and checking college year books and records. Then someone else must have done the same and used the information to write me that letter. They knew I wouldn't fall for some story about a Nigerian prince trying to claim an inheritance, so whoever it was impersonated Nicholas. Who would be so cruel? I suppose I knew it was odd. Your father always did all the financial things, so I’ve been at a loss since he’s been gone. I did worry a little when Nicholas gave me an excuse about not sending the repayment. Really, to be honest, I was sick with worry about it, but I felt so stupid that I didn’t want to say anything to you or your sister. I was afraid you’d both be angry with me. Go to the police? I don’t know about that, dear. I’ve never had dealings with the police in my life.

   What did you say? The bank has frozen my account. So that explains why I couldn’t get any money out of the machine last week. I’m not such a dinosaur that I can’t use a cash machine. We’ll go to the bank together to get it all straightened out. Don’t cry, dear. It’s not your fault that your mother was a gullible old fool. You’ve had plenty of problems of your own to deal with. You’ve lost your father and your marriage recently, and I couldn’t do anything to make that easier for you. As a parent, you hurt when your children hurt. You want to make it all better for them. I suppose that’s why I fell for the scam. They knew I wasn't thinking straight since your father passed. Never mind. All I’ve lost is some money and my pride. We still have each other. I love you and we’ll get over this.