BETWEEN THE LINES
When the war first started,
She made a promise she would keep,
That every night she'd write him,
Before she went to sleep.
So, every night she did just that,
And gave him all the news,
Her intent - to keep his spirits up,
And keep him from the blues.
A typical letter read like this,
"The kids are well, and so am I,
The lemon tree has lemons now,
I must make a lemon pie."
But between the lines, her message said,
"I love that little
tree,
Remember when you planted
it?
You said it was for
me."
"But in my heart of hearts, I
knew,
It was your love for lemon
pie,
And my first pie was
disastrous,
We laughed until we
cried."
"We had to eat it with a
spoon,
You even tried a
straw,
Remember how I threatened
you
If you ever told your
Ma?"
"School is in full-swing now,
George Junior made the team,
He's old enough and big enough,
And tough enough, it seems."
But between the lines, her message was,
"Oh, honey, he's so
small,
I should have told him no, I
s'pose,
He's just a child, after
all."
"His heart was really set on
this,
I couldn't turn him
down,
His helmet almost swallows
him,
But he treats it like a
crown."
"Carole's on the Dean's List,
The third time in a row,
Sweetheart, she's so smart,
She's got your brains, you know."
"And pretty, too, our little girl,
You would be so proud,
She lights up any room,
And stands out in a crowd."
But what she really wished to say
Was somewhere between the lines,
"I'm worried about our
Carole,
I think things aren't so
fine."
"Her new boyfriend is too
old for her,
She cannot understand or
see,
That the world is her oyster
now,
And there's more than one fish in the sea."
"Oh, dear, if you were only
here,
It would help so
much,
A daughter needs a
father,
Sometimes a mother's not
enough."
"Your mom called the other day,
And asked us all for Sunday brunch,
I plan to go." "The kids won't,
though,
They told me so
up-front."
"After a certain age, you
know,
Some family things become a
chore,
George Junior's reached that age
now,
Hard to persuade him
anymore."
She dropped her pen; the words rushed out,
"Honey, it's so
hard,
If you were here, he'd want to
go,
You'd play ball with him out in the
yard."
"Your mother doesn't look too well,
I think she needs us
more,
She began to age the day you left,
The day you went to
war."
"Well, it's late, dear, I must go,
I guess that's all the news,
Take care - stay safe - write when you can,
The kids and I love you."
She felt a tear upon her cheek,
As she laid down her pen,
"I cannot say how much I miss
you,"
Between the lines was written then.
"I ache to have you hold me,
I long for just your
touch,
The pain I feel is very
real,
I am missing you so
much."
She picked up her pen again,
"Enclosed please find some snaps,
Silly shots of the kids and me,
I hope they'll bring some laughs."
Virginia (Ginny) Ellis
ŠApril 2005
