Please enjoy the following excerpt from “Love Letters from a Doughboy,” the scene below shares my grandparents’ first meeting. I was able to put together a fictionalized love story based on a collection of letters I found a few years ago, which the two had exchanged from the time they met to the time my grandfather enlisted in WWI and beyond. The letters date back to as early as 1916:
Thomas went into the gift shop to buy some postcards for his sisters. He particularly wanted postcards of the dollhouse displays for Margaret and Rose and of the African animals for Ralph and Edward. As he scanned the selection, he heard a young female voice behind him ask, “May I help you find something in particular, sir?”
He turned and saw that the voice belonged to the girl from the day before, the one with the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. “I … I was just looking for postcards of the dollhouses,” he said. He felt his face grow warm. “For my sisters,” he added quickly, “and I’d like postcards of the African display for my little brothers.”
“We sell the postcards for a penny apiece, or if you’d like, you can purchase a booklet with fifteen pictures from the dollhouse rooms for just ten cents. Which would you prefer?”
Thomas smiled and said, “I’ll take the entire collection.”
The girl handed him a booklet and said, “Sorry, but I don’t have booklets from the African display. You’ll have to buy those separately.”
“That’s okay, Miss … By the way, didn’t I see you at the corner five and dime just yesterday? I think you noticed me there, didn’t you?”
“Well, of course I did. I take my lunch there every day when I work at the museum.” She held out her hand and said, “Hello, I’m Juliette Wilcox.”
Thomas offered his hand. “Glad to meet you, Juliette. I’m Thomas Fletcher, from Twin Pines, Florida. My dad and I were here on business, and now we’re enjoying the sights before we head back home.”
Thomas selected more postcards, and they talked for a bit and learned they would both be high school seniors in the fall. Juliette told him she had two younger sisters, and he told her about Thomas, Edward, and the twins, and about their house with its tin roof and life on the farm. Juliette leaned forward and asked, “Thomas, do you have a girlfriend?”
My gosh, this girl sure isn’t shy! “No, why do you ask?”
“Since seeing your handsome face, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
Thomas was taken aback, although he’d felt the same way about her. “What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Not anymore.”
“What happened?”
“I just met you!”
Thomas stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded.
“How about if we exchange addresses?” she asked.
“All right.”
She handed him a pencil and a scrap of paper, cleared a
space on a counter for him, and then started writing her address on another piece of paper. Just then, Thomas’s father came in and said, “It’s time to head for the hotel and for lunch, Thomas. Have you made your purchase from this lovely young lady?”
“Well, actually, Dad, I was just getting to that.”
“Well, finish up, and let’s go!”
Thomas paid for the postcards, and Juliette thanked him for his
business. As they left, she called out, “Nice to meet you, Thomas! Hope to see you again sometime!” Then she winked at him.
Outside the museum, his dad asked, “What was that all about?’’
“Oh, nothing really. She’s just a good saleslady.” Deep inside, Thomas’s heart was pounding faster and harder than it ever had. He couldn’t wait to get home and write a letter to this lovely, pushy girl.
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