Timing is everything....

A friend of mine, contacted me recently with something he found in an old french book.  It was so beautiful and so moving that I had to share it with all of you.  The feelings of this woman are so vivid and so haunting, it makes you wonder what became of her and her love.  The passage in the book is dated, September 30, 1924, by Mary Ruth Cole to Robert Kirby Whyte.

      I'am with you dear...wandering thru memory lane, living the years of laughter and tears over and over again.  I'am dreaming yet of the night we met and life was a lovely refrain.  You were so shy, saying goodbye in the dawn, with only a glance and full of romance...then you were gone.  Tho my hopes are in vain, still my love will remain...dreaming of you...wandering thru memory lane...Love,  Sweet Mary

I can see them standing in a doorway, tears in her eyes.  I am sure they made love that night, but she knows that her feelings for him are not the same feelings he feels for her.  Maybe he is protecting her because he is going to war or maybe there is another woman that he loves, but can't break away from Mary.  Whatever the story is, it begs to be told.  My friend has been researching the archives, searching for answers.  Robert went to Culver Military Academy.  He found this written about him...Robert was the most popular boy in school.  He was head cheerleader and was Pres. of the Hop Club.  As captain of the Fighting E, he was at his best and was an all around good fellow.  He is very good looking man, more dashing with dark eyes...the kind that make a woman yearn for more.  I can picture him in my mind and I know why Mary was smitten with him.  I am sure he was a lady's man and had the interest of many women on campus.  My friend found another passage written to Robert in the book..
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      You didn't want me when I wanted you.  I'am somebody else's now.  I gave thee chances, but you thru them all away.  I might have known you'd be sorry some day.  I still love you and yet we must forget.  I can't be untrue to my love.  You didn't want me when I wanted you...I'am somebody else's now....Mary

Oh how I wish I could fill in the blanks...timing is everything in love...their time was not right.  I have to wonder if after she wrote this, the pangs of love were too much to overlook.  I wonder if they did eventually get together.  If they acted on their feelings, instead of what was right.  He obviously contacted her later and told her how much he loved her and that he was sorry he left that night at dawn.  She moved on and found another love, but her first love for him is still in her heart.  Why did she write these things in this french book?  She must have given it to him and then later got it back and wrote in it again.  This book holds the mystery that we may never know the answers too.  My friend is trying his hardest to find some information on Mary.  He is hoping to find her children.  He would like to give this book to them.  Mary was from Grand Haven, Michigan and went to a school for girls called Akeley Hall in 1922.  It is unclear to me how she met Robert.  Life is a mystery....and timing is everything....

Thank you Ron Moschel....