The Altar of Her Love

So now I'm saying goodbye, Tom, and as tactless as it may be, I also want to say good luck. You told me once that people make their own luck, and if that's true, then there's a pot of gold waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. So I'll leave you with this. The first thing my parents made me memorize even before The Lord's Prayer or the Hail Mary was this Irish blessing. I say it every day, and will continue to say it with you in mind every night for the rest of my life:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Yours with endless love and affection,

Erin

It was a nice letter, and it made me cry, but ultimately it didn't change a thing. I never saw her again. I guess I was happy to know that she knew I loved her, considering that I had never told her that. Maybe that was my fault, and maybe it would have made a difference, but I doubt it. Mostly, I was glad that she thought fondly of me, but ultimately that didn't do me a lot of good. Still, I hope she continues to think of me, and if she does, I hope those are fond memories.

It took me a while to get over Erin; I thought about her a lot for an awfully long time. Maybe I still haven't gotten over her, because, though I'm ashamed to admit it, I still think about her. And as pathetic as it sounds, from the day that I read her letter, right up through this, the end of my story, I still wanted to know everything I could about what was going on in her life, and I knew enough people in Eau Claire that stayed in contact with her, that over the years I managed to keep up with a lot of it.

She ended up getting a teaching job at Watertown High School. In fact, that was the job she alluded to in her letter to me. She actually replaced the man who was her cooperating teacher, as he retired immediately after she finished her student teaching gig. It's ironic -- as far as I know, she still lives there -- in that same little town that she told me she could never live in because she found it so stifling.

And she not only kept dating Ryan, but she also married him a few years later. If I hold anything against Ryan, I guess it's that I can never drive past a Kwik Trip store without thinking about that asshole! I never found out whether they had any children, nor do I know if they are still married. I sure as hell hope he learned to treat her better than he had been treating her, because she deserved better.

As for me, I spent three more months living in Minneapolis, and then I went back to school and got my degree, and the following year, I got my own gig teaching high school English. I did that up until a couple of years ago. Now I'm a writer.

After I finished school, I met and fell in love with another woman, a fellow teacher, and we, too, got married. It's been 22 years, and we're still together. We have two daughters. Our oldest is now the same age as Erin was when I first met her.

I guess Erin was right, I really did discover the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so I don't regret a fucking thing. In fact, I remember telling her that I always wanted to be a writer, but never had anything to write about, so I guess the short amount of time we had together did produce something -- this fucking story! It's probably not very good. I know that. But I don't really give a shit, 'cause even if it isn't any good, at least it's true. That's better than good.