Dear Madeline..

Hannah Tedrow

My dearest Madeline,

I don’t have much time, we’re leaving today to go to battle. It seems like forever since

I’ve been home and seen you. This letter is different. I won’t be able to write for a while so I

want you to remember how it all started.

Kindergarten was a trying time in my life, as my dad had passed a year before. We had

my grandparents move into our farmhouse with us outside of town to help with costs. I was a lost

and grieving child. I had gone back to the shell of myself, until I saw this red headed, green eyed,

freckled faced girl. I remember the first time I saw you so vividly. You were in your favorite

blue dress, and your hair loosely pulled back with a blue ribbon, and a bright smile across your

face. The thought came across my mind as I’ve never seen this girl before. I was hesitant, but the

next thing I knew you were introducing yourself. You were telling me how you just moved from

Iowa but you never told me the reason, I later found out that your mom died of cancer. We were

able to bond over our losses. Since that day on we have been best friends, irreplaceable.

It’s impossible to imagine a life without you. The month in fifth grade was the hardest

month of my life. I thought we were done, the past five years for nothing. Another girl had

moved to town. The first person to move to that small town in the past five years. You started to

befriend her, don’t you remember? I had a hard time understanding that you could have more

than one friend. We yelled for almost an hour ending with you stomping out of my house, I ran
out chasing after you yelling your name. You wouldn’t turn around, you were so frustrated with

me. I sat at the edge of my driveway crying, thinking our friendship was over, replaying all of

our memories. That was the last time I heard from you for a month. You were busy playing with

your new friend while I was at home becoming distant from everything I loved. I wouldn’t help

my Grandpa tend the farm nor would I play with Sally, our golden retriever. I would sometimes

play with my toy trains but only on occasion. I started to lose the love I had for many things,

everything reminded me of you.When I would see you at school with your new friends I would

get so sad and lonely, knowing how happy they made you. I started to get lost in the new world

without you, I found myself starting to hide from the world. After one of the longest months of

my life, I heard a knock on the door and I was surprised to see who it was. It was you. We talked

for a while and you told me how you missed me and you wanted to be friends again. After the

talk we began to become friends again and I got used to you having more friends than me.That

was the longest we went without talking.

Tenth grade was when things started to get complicated. We were getting ready to

graduate and our classes and activities made it nearly impossible to see each. The only time to

see each other was the weekend. One weekend, my family was gone and I invited you over. We

always stayed the night at our houses, we would play board games and ride our bikes around the

neighborhood. Later that night we were sitting on my couch and I couldn’t stop thinking about

your red hair, green eyes, and freckled face. Something overcame me and I leaned in and kissed

you. You kissed me back, but after you just stared as I started to say how I thought of you more
than a friend. I thought I had ruined our friendship, but your face lit up and told me how you felt

the same way. That night was the fifth best day of my life.

5 years later, we were out of high school and 5 years into our relationship. Our first baby

was on the way. We were more than ecstatic for the arrival of the baby. Life was moving so fast,

we moved into a small house into town. I started a job as one of the towns mechanics and you

stayed home and tended to the house to prepare for the baby. When the arrival of the baby came,

it was the second best day of my life. When we arrived at the hospital we were very jittery and

nervous. I remember almost being more scared then you were. The baby was crowning and after

about an hour of you pushing, they were here. We had given birth to a beautiful baby girl and a

handsome baby boy. We were so happy to have another baby. We were very shocked to find out

the doctors missed a baby for all that long, but we pieced together why you had so many

complications.

Another 5 years later, 10 years of being together and a whole lifetime of being with you.

This is us now. I love you forever Madeline. You are my one and only love. I truly believe there

is no one in the world for me, other than you. Since the day I met you I knew that you were a

light in my life. I love you and my babies with all of my heart. I want to be home as soon as I

can. I want you to remember that you are the strongest woman I know and you have always been

a fighter. I love you.

Your dearest Toby