After a couple of years, letters from Elwood began to dwindle. Joyce assumed that it was because Elwood was unable to keep up his letter-writing due to the demands of war. She continued to write faithfully to Elwood anyway. Then, the letters from him stopped altogether. Joyce was dismayed but never lost sight of the promise that she and Elwood had forged together.
Finally, one day a letter arrived from Elwood. He wrote about having met another girl, Mary. He wrote that Mary would never, however, mean as much to him as Joyce did. And then, there were no more letters from Elwood. Joyce kept busy on her family's farm and helped cook the farmhand meals for the brothers too young to go to war. Her two oldest brothers, Sidney and Alvin, like so many young men, were away at war like Elwood.
One day when Joyce's parents had to make a trip into town to buy supplies, Joyce was left in charge of firing up the wood cook stove and starting the big mid-day meal. She was just about to light the fire when one of her younger brothers who had returned from an errand in town announced to Joyce that he knew why she had not heard any more from Elwood. The news was that Elwood had gotten married!
Joyce was totally devastated by this revelation. She had assumed that Elwood's new friend Mary was just that...a friend. She assumed that one day she and Elwood would be reunited and finally be married. She was hurt. She was angry. She was beside herself with grief.
Joyce called to her younger sister Frances to come into the kitchen and help her. Joyce told her to help her gather up everything that she had been given by Elwood. Pictures, gifts, stacks and stacks of letters from Elwood, even one of those silk pillows that so many of the servicemen sent home to their families, were put into a pile on the big kitchen table. Then Joyce said, "Help me put all of this stuff into the open fire." She wanted to rid herself of every memory associated with that scoundrel! Frances tried to dissuade her, but Joyce's mind was made up. She was done with Elwood forever!
After the war, Elwood returned to the little farming community with his new bride, and in time Joyce learned to put aside her feelings for Elwood and move on with her life. She eventually met and married Johnny, a handsome sailor from the Midwest.
Elwood and Mary and Joyce and Johnny blended into the community, each raising several children, and remained friends and acquaintances for six decades. They even went to the same church and saw each other socially on a regular basis. Johnny passed away a few years ago, and Joyce relied on her strong Christian faith to sustain her. She sold the country home that she and Johnny had lived in for so many years and moved into the small town where her church was just a few minutes' drive away.
Several years ago, Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and had to be placed into an assisted living facility. Elwood, who was then in his 80s, wanted to be near to her, so he moved in as well. For eight years, they lived there together, until earlier this year, when Mary passed away. It was naturally difficult for Elwood to loose his wife of sixty something years. The community and the church, as well as his children, rallied around him and gave him comfort.
Then, two strange things happened. One day after church, Elwood told Joyce's younger sister Frances that he had always carried a torch for Joyce. When Joyce heard this, she was furious. How dare he say something like that! It made her feel cheap! But Joyce has a forgiving heart, and she chalked it up to the ramblings of an old man. But then, a couple of months ago, at a meeting to plan the 90th birthday celebration for Elwood, he told Joyce that he was pleased to be honored in this way, but that the best part of it was that he'd get to spend time with the sweetest, prettiest gal he ever knew.
That did it! Joyce called Elwood's oldest son and told him that he needed to do something with his father. She was highly offended by Elwood's remarks and wished that he'd keep his mouth shut. But, then, when Joyce told her children and siblings about what had transpired, they were all happy that Elwood was attempting to open his heart to Joyce. After all, they said, he's an old man and he's really trying to reach out to her.
Joyce prayed about this and thought about this and talked again to all of her children and brothers and sisters. They unanimously encouraged her to go forward with this rekindled love affair.
So, Joyce went to visit Elwood at the assisted living facility. They sat and talked for hours. He poured his heart out to her. He apologized for breaking her heart all those years ago. They held hands, they cried together, and they reformed the bond that they had once shared.
Now, Joyce is 88 years old, and Elwood is 90. They sit together every Sunday at church, and Joyce drives into the nearby town to visit him at the assisted living facility at least three times a week, sometimes more often. Joyce told me that she hasn't been this happy in years, that she feels like she's floating on air. Joyce and Elwood are in love! She actually said that they hold hands, but that's as far as it's gone. (Oh, my!) I jokingly said that I'd be looking for a wedding invitation in the mail, and Joyce said that actually, she and Elwood would love to get married, but it would mean that his Medicaid would be affected, and who knows what it would do to Johnny's pension that she was receiving. She said that they would move in together but that they're worried about how that would look! (I had to suppress another chuckle when I heard this part.)
So, there you go.........Love conquers all. True story.
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