My cousin Hazel much older than
me had a beau, he moved from town
but wrote her love letters. My great aunt,
her mother, intercepted his letters and
destroyed them all. My own grandma
told me this story when I was much older;
I was appalled. Should I tell Hazel, forever
unmarried? I decided it would only cause
grief, resentment. It wouldn’t help now. But
I hated my aunt Ida for her selfish cruelty.
2025 Jacqueline Jackson