#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Ibis

“…My sister! ('tis a wish of mine)
Now that our morning meal is done,
Make haste, your morning task resign;
Come forth and feel the sun…”

~ Excerpt from “To My Sister,” by William Wordsworth

Shirley Elaine Brackett

Awake early, but I work for awhile before going out into the wind and cold air, wearing a jacket today. The wind catches and tumbles my hat; I chase it along the sand. Surf’s up–a gang of surfers is out riding the waves. Most of the birds are huddled hidden away somewhere. I only spot a clutch of ibis in the surf and the weighty and indomitable pelicans. A few turkey vultures circle low over the lagoon. It is my last day with my sister. We have talked and played happily, catching up on all the conversations we’ve missed. Tonight, we sit together so I can read aloud from the cache of my mother’s letters to my father in 1953-1954, the years of their dating, engagement and marriage. My sister has not read the letters, so I am excited to read a half dozen of them to her that I have scanned onto my computer. We only have the letters my mother sent my father, not the ones he wrote her. My guess is that my mother did save his letters, but now they are lost. This cache of her letters was preserved by my father’s mother; she saved all of the letters he ever wrote to her; and she somehow kept this collection (did he give them to his mother?) and eventually they made their way into my brother’s hands. Thank goodness. It’s a treasure trove. We enjoy their flirtation very much. We’ve witnessed the best of their relationship and all the dreams and wishes at the foundation. Some of them came true. At least, we did.