Is it possible to revive a long lost love?

It was around 6:30 pm and a typical notification voice echoed through the terminal: “Final boarding call for flight 147.” They looked deeply into each other’s eyes, trying to print one last image of their faces. He tried to smile despite his pain as he leaned in for a final goodbye kiss, a long, tender kiss that was destined to be embedded in his memories, followed by a tight hug, exemplifying not wanting to let go. She was forced to leave to continue her education, but he was forbidden to leave due to the care of his ailing mother and younger siblings. They had a love bound by duties: one for self-improvement and the other for the good of the family. Forced to be separated by distance, they had to endure.

The few months that followed were nothing but agonizing; it was as if death had taken someone dear. For every month since he left, she wrote to him. In his letters were his feelings, his thoughts, his fears and his insecurities. Unfortunately, his letters were left intact, unopened and discarded. He had never mentioned to her that he couldn’t write, much less read. He kept getting his letters, but he didn’t know what to do with them. He was too proud to ask for help or for someone to at least interpret his girlfriend’s letters. At a young age, he had to drop out of elementary school to help support his family. To make matters worse, he had lost his father to cancer. In the early 1990s in the Marshall Islands, cancer was certain death due to a lack of modern and advanced technology.

Despite his lack of response, she continued to write him letters. He was beginning to think that he was ignorant of his letters, although he had no idea that he was illiterate. As days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years, she conscientiously expressed her emotions by writing them down on paper. It remained that way until a year after the anniversary of the date of his departure when he wrote his last letter, the last breath:

“My dearest Lucas,

The last breath of our relationship

I’ve been trying to make sense of things and to find words to write to you. There are no words that can express the depth of my pain and the deep loss I feel. At this point, it is impossible for us to continue our supposed relationship. There are no winners here; there are only losers. As common sense says: “What has been done is done and cannot be changed. It has been written on a page of our book of life and will remain firm for all eternity. Only God can forgive us all our sins. As for humans, it’s a little harder to forgive. “

Personally, I don’t think it’s appropriate to continue our relationship. After all, you have been ignoring my letters. It saddens me to say that we must break all the promises we made to ourselves. How sad that we ended up like this. What happened?

We are old enough to know that we were once lovers. Looking back at the days and nights we shared together, I feel like they were the sweetest moments of our lives as a couple. I couldn’t discern all the pain that I would have to face in the end. How could this happen?

With the deepest pain in my heart and the greatest sadness in my soul that I have ever experienced, I say goodbye and good luck in life. I will always love you; However, I will always detest your cruelty.

Sincerely yours,

Natasha Kim “

If only her father hadn’t passed away and she hadn’t had to drop out of school, she might have had an education and could have read his letters. If he hadn’t been too proud to seek help interpreting his letters, he might have been able to communicate in some way. If only he could have communicated, he could have kept his flame of passion burning. As the days, months, and years passed, he wondered why the letters had stopped arriving.

It wasn’t until one day when Lucas’s younger sister was cleaning her room that she noticed an old, worn leather box on top of her nightstand. Out of curiosity, she opened the box and was surprised to find a whole year of letters addressed to her brother. He continued to open the most recent letter his brother had received. It was the last letter his brother’s girlfriend had sent him: the last breath. As he read the letter, he began to cry because he knew very well that his brother was illiterate and that he had sacrificed his education for his family. When he finished reading the letter, he ran out of the room like a bullet fired straight from the barrel of a pistol. She frantically searched for her brother and found him in the kitchen, at the dining room table, drinking what appeared to be coffee. She began to read the letter aloud to him. When he finished reading the letter, he looked at his brother only to find him covering his face with both palms of his hands, doing his best to hide his pain, his tears.

After a moment had passed, he got up and ran to his room along with his sister. I wanted to find something, something that could assign another form of contact. Coincidentally, he found a phone number. It was in the first letter Natasha sent. He sat down by the phone. His heart was pounding so hard that he couldn’t hear anything else. He picked up the phone and started dialing. ‘Ring’ ‘ring’ ‘ring’, the fourth ring was answered, followed by a very soft familiar voice: “Thank you for calling the Smith residence. This is Natasha, how can I take your call?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing and couldn’t even say a single word. He hung up the phone. He waited for his anxiety to subside, then picked up the phone and dialed again. The first ring was answered and she replied, “Hi, I’m Tasha.” He replied, “Is that you Sasha? God, I have missed your voice.” Sasha was a name he used to call her by. This time he could hear her drown; hung up the phone. That did it. He couldn’t dare call her again.

Three days later, I was making breakfast and the phone started ringing. He picked it up and heard: “I’m Sasha. How are you?” Finally, they began to catch up on their lives. She had gotten serious with one of her schoolmates, got married and started a family with him. He had a cute and beautiful daughter named Lucia, who was named Lucas. As the conversation continued, his misunderstanding was resolved and apologies were accepted. They became best friends and are still in touch.

Although they are on good terms, their guilt and misconceptions will haunt them forever. It is bad enough that some people are forced to separate due to the harsh duties of life. It is even worse that illiteracy is another form of ignorance; However, the worst thing in life is when people go to the grave without reading their feelings, writing messages, and not telling their stories.