On the first anniversary
of Ellen’s death, her husband, Bill Lewis, with
the help of her sister Suzanne, sort through his wife’s
things, which had not been disturbed since the night
of her death. By mid afternoon items to be donated are
boxed and ready to go; Ellen’s keepsakes divided
between Suzanne and himself. Nothing more to be done,
Suzanne and Bill say goodbye.
As she is walking to her car
Suzanne turns and asks Bill about the boxes under Ellen’s
bed. Bill, puzzled, said he was unaware of any boxes,
but that he would retrieve them, then let her know what
he finds. Later that evening he recovers four stationery
boxes from where Ellen had put them well out of sight.
They are covered with dust, apparently having been there
for quite a while.
In the first box, Bill finds
a large envelope containing a number of letters addressed
to Ellen. Some are from publishers, others from editors,
each in one form or another rejecting a short story
she had submitted. Under the envelope are three of those
stories. The other boxes contain more – eighteen
in all.
As he reads the stories, Bill
recognizes likenesses of people he and Ellen had met,
places they had been, and life situations they had shared,
and they trigger memories, some wonderful, some painful,
of their years together.
In his narrative, he places the
stories along the time line of their life, explaining
how each relates to a person, place or event. For Bill
these stories become echoes of Ellen.
Although theirs was not an idyllic
relationship, it was satisfying for both – until
Ellen went to San Diego.
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