Remembering Miles

“Well bully for them then. But I’m surprised you came to the reunion. I know you’ve been cut off from the family. I’m just sorry I stopped exchanging letters with you. I didn’t mean to. Life just caught up with me.”

“I understand perfectly. You had a normal life to establish. I’ve seen photos of your wife and children. I envy you your normal life. I would have liked to have had children. But, as a teacher, I guess I managed to do that anyway. I didn’t really want to come to the reunion, but my mother wanted me to come. I’ve been such a disappointment to her that I owed bringing her over here every day. It’s the least I could do.” He smiled wanly at me. He was sitting on a log and I was standing near him, my foot raised and resting farther down on the log.

“You envy me? That’s funny. I’ve always envied you.”