Letters To My Soldier

Letter Six

From: Igotzbballz4life

To: Z._17

December 6, 2018 9:00 AM

You cook? Well, I'll be, Mr. Army Enthusiast cooks? You know, toast doesn't count. ;)

From: : Z._17

To: Igotzbballz4life

December 6, 2018 9:02 AM

Har Har. No, I like making my special lasagna my grandma used to make before she died. She made the best Italian dishes you can't find in Little Italy.

What about you? Can you cook? You know, toast doesn't count.

From: Igotzbballz4life

To: Z._17

December 6, 2018 9:05 AM

I leave all the cooking to Jess. Occasionally I'll help out at the diner on the weekends. Actually, that reminds me that I'm working the dinner shift tonight...

Sadly, no, toast is much too hard a concept for me so it wouldn't matter if it counted anyways.

What was your grandma like?

From: Z._17

To: Igotzbballz4life

December 6, 2018 9:12 AM

She was the typical Italian grandmother, I guess. Always had her black hair tied back in a bun with some gray hairs sticking out. She liked to feed me. she lived to make me as fat as possible! But I remember how she smelled like cinnamon and candles with some trace of hay she would feed to the horses they had on their ranch. She had a rich accent since the immigrated from Florence, Italy to the New York Suburbs when my mother was still a baby.

She meant the most to me growing up, since she was my part time babysitter before I started going to school while my parents worked. She would let me help take care of some of the horses, grooming them, feeding them. She made me learn how to cook and taught me recipes she said she'd never teach anyone else. My mother would always try and get me to tell her the secrets but I never waivered.

She died of old age the same year my parents got into an accident.

I bit my lip, feeling my eyes water. I could relate so well to Heath. It reminds me of how human he really is, not just some army buff that the description I found weeks ago made him out to be. He hid is true, kind, sweet personality so well in the beginning. But that was just his shield, his M.O. I'm drinking in all the information I can about him. He's so intriguing, so different from anybody I've ever met.

From: Igotzbballz4life

To: Z._17

December 6, 2018 9:20 AM

She sounds amazing Heath. I can't imagine what it felt like to lose the ones you love so suddenly. It reminds me of how lucky I was to have Dean and Jess.

Is the ranch still there? The horses?

From: Z._17

To: Igotzbballz4life

December 6, 2018 9:24 AM

I don't know...when they died they had the will but no one thought it was necessary to tell a seven year old what was on it. They sought me out when I turned eighteen but I refused to open it or listen to any of the lawyers. I had just put everything behind me, the memories, so it's sitting in a safe in the bank. I've thought of going back a few times or reading the will. But I never did, and then I was shipped out here a year ago for a two/maybe three year term.