Dear John

August 12, 19-

Dear John,

It saddens me to write this letter. I have been doing a lot of thinking about our relationship here lately, and I have come to the realization that this relationship is not working for me anymore. I know that this is going to be a shock for you, and I truly am sorry for that.

I have my reasons for making this decision. First, I feel like we have grown apart over the last few years. We used to have a lot in common, but lately, we do not seem to have anything to talk about. Second, I am not happy with the way you treat me recently. You have been distant and cold, and I do not feel like you love me at all. Third, I can not get past your mother telling me that I can not do something for you as well as her and always feeling like I am being judged by her all the time.

I know this is a lot for you to take in, and I am sure you have a lot of questions. I do not feel like answering them. I am not in the mood for a long drawn-out discussion about this. Please just do not contact me again. I just wanted to let you know how I feel and why I am ending our relationship.

I hope you understand,

Sincerely,

Your Ex,

Chasity

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Julie read the letter twice. She had found it in a trunk while she was cleaning her grandparents' attic. She was a little surprised, because, by the way, her grandma talked, her grandparents had been together since primary school.

Julie wondered who Chasity was, and if her grandma knew who she was. Julie decided to look through some old yearbooks of her grandparents, to see if there was any Chasity listed in them.

Julie poured through all the yearbooks but did not find any Chasity’s listed in them. She considered going through a few Ma Bell white page catalogs that had made it up to the attic, but she seriously doubted she’d find them. She looked through the trunk she’d found the letter in, but everything inside was her grandma’s keepsakes.

Searching the attic, Julie eventually came across her grandpa’s army trunk. Inside were the usual military keepsakes: name tags, eating utensils, and medals. She went through all the paperwork and old photos she found inside, but could find no mention of a Chasity.

Julie was truly fixing to give up when she noticed a tear in the lining of the trunk. Pulling the lining back, she saw a small stack of papers, tied together with a blue ribbon. Taking the papers to an old chair by the dormer window, Julie looked through the papers.

The story that unfolded for Julie through the memorabilia her grandpa had went something like this:

The year was 1952, Grandpa was a sergeant in the United States Army and stationed in Seol. He met a beautiful nurse who was also stationed there. He fell instantly in love. He quit writing to Grandma when he met Chasity. Every spare moment he had, he spent with Chasity.

He and Chasity exchanged love notes and poems. Grandpa had every single one still. In one of the notes he wrote, he told Chasity that he was going to call things off with his girlfriend in the States and that since he had met Chasity she was the only one for him.

It was soon after he wrote that he was going to break up with Grandma, that Chasity wrote the Dear John letter to Grandpa. He had tried to contact Chasity, to ask her what she meant. He was so upset and confused, not because she broke things off, but because she had never met his mother. He never got the chance to ask, though. Chastity was killed by friendly fire soon after she wrote the Dear John letter.

So, Julie figured Grandma had found the Dear John letter in the lining of the trunk and knew all about Chasity and Grandpa’s love affair. And for some reason, unknown, Grandma had hidden the Dear John letter in her own trunk of keepsakes.

Putting on a neutral face, Julie headed downstairs to get a sandwich and some bottled tea. She didn’t want her grandparents’ to know she had found the letters or pictures.