Below is a sampling of the opening chapter titled A Letter from Miss Wingate.
Bear with each other and forgive
whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you.~ Colossians 3:13, NIV
"The unopened letter
stood in the middle of the kitchen island where Martin Gilmore had tossed it
aside as an unexpected reminder of his past. Since its arrival, the letter felt
like a throbbing thorn in his finger. Instead of being a reason to show mercy
toward Miss Wingate, as his wife Sarah would likely have encouraged, it was
more a reminder of what might have been had he never encountered Elizabeth
Wingate.
Martin heard the
Lancaster Herald morning newspaper land with a soft thud on the front steps leading
up to the wrap-around porch. He glanced out the window and saw the delivery van
make a swift U-turn and work its way down his driveway through the patches of
early-morning September mist. When the vehicle reached the main road that
encircled Lake Windermere, it turned right and faded into the fog hovering
along the shore line.
He slipped two slices
of whole wheat bread into the toaster before he went outside and picked up the
newspaper, anxious to scan the weekend classified pages. The moist air felt
clammy against his face. The weather forecast predicted heavy rain starting
early in the morning and into most of next week. And the sudden appearance of
that letter still felt unsettling, like a thunderous cloud ready to burst open
with angry rain.
When he got back inside,
he could smell the satisfying fragrance of toast. The coffee-maker wheezed and
sputtered with steam, announcing the end of its brew cycle. He poured a cup of
coffee, its stimulating aroma giving little encouragement to open that letter delivered
in yesterday’s mail from his old 8th grade teacher."
Robert Parlante
August 2014
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