I intended to attend secretarial college while he worked.
My father supervised a line at Whitmore Manufacturing.
Walter’s father was one of the company’s senior managers.
I kept reading.
Dad has arranged for me to work with Uncle Robert in Michigan. Mom says if I leave quietly, he’ll leave your family alone. I told her I would tell you myself. She said she would make sure you understood.
My chest tightened.
Walter’s mother.
The woman who stood on the porch and told me:
Walter is gone, Margaret. Let him go.
I read further.
I don’t know what she told you. You haven’t answered. I’ve written four times. I’m beginning to think maybe she was right and this is better for you. But I need you to hear it from me: I did not choose to leave you. I chose not to let my father punish your family because of me. Maybe that was cowardly. Maybe I should have stayed and fought him. I don’t know anymore.
