"Drew, get down here with your mom." Ashley's mom said on the phone.
Confused, my mom and I drove off to her house.
She immediately took us inside.
On the kitchen table were a bunch of envelopes.
"What are those?" I asked.
"Letters." She said sorting them. I read the names.
Mama, Papa, Abuela, Drew, Maddy, Eva, and Riley?!
"Why is Riley's name on one of these?" I asked in shock.
"I don't know. We're going to have to read it. I refuse to speak to that family." She said.
We each took our letters.
I watched as my mom and her mom read their letters.
I read mine.
I took a deep breath and brought it up to my face.
My dearest, Andrew Luis Ramos.
Man, where do I begin? You are the love of my life. The one person who makes life worth wild. But sadly, I was selfish. I was impulsive. I was stubborn. I didn't see that. It was all about me. But you were so patient. No matter how many times I pushed you away, you came back. No matter how many times I woke up in the middle of the night crying, you were there to hold me and wipe my tears away. Nobody's ever been this patient with me. I can't thank you enough. No one could ever replace you. I knew in my mind leaving you was stupid. But I had to. I couldn't deal with this life any longer. The voices got louder and louder. I don't expect you to understand. I can see why you're angry. Because I'm selfish. I ruined a good thing. But just know, all the memories we made, I took them with me to my grave. All the laughter, tears, even fights. (The one fight we've had.) Especially the love. The love will be remembered upon generations and generations. I love you more than you'll ever know.
Yours truly,
Ashley Josefina Martinez
