Chapter 7 - Caleb Left Behind Two Letters
Diane found the letters while cleaning the attic.
Two envelopes.
One addressed to Lena.
One to Melody.
Caleb had written them before a deployment years earlier and apparently
never mailed them.
Diane called both daughters.
They met at the family house Saturday afternoon.
Dad sat in the living room but did not interfere.
Diane handed Lena her envelope.
Caleb’s handwriting immediately broke something open inside her.
He wrote about being proud of her.
He joked that Dad would never understand what logistics officers
actually did.
Then one sentence made Lena stop.
If Melody ever joins, don’t let her spend her whole career trying to
prove she belongs in your shadow.
Lena looked up.
Melody was crying over her own letter.
Caleb had written something similar to her.
Stop competing with Lena. She isn’t competing with you.
The sisters sat in silence.
Melody finally laughed through tears.
“He knew.”
“Apparently.”
“I hated being compared to you.”
Lena looked at her.
“Nobody compared us around me.”
“They did around me.”
Teachers.
Relatives.
Family friends.
Lena was the brilliant older sister who left for college early and
joined the Army.
Melody grew up hearing:
Your sister did this.
Your sister won that.
Your sister got promoted again.
Then Lena stopped coming home.
Suddenly Melody had the room to herself.
She liked it.
When Dad began dismissing Lena’s career, Melody joined him because it
protected the identity she had built.
“I’m sorry,” Melody whispered.
Lena did not immediately say it was okay.
It had not been okay.
Instead she said:
“Thank you.”
Melody nodded.
Then Dad stood.
He walked toward the kitchen without speaking.
May you like
Lena noticed his shoulders shaking.
Caleb’s letters had reached all of them years late.
