Old Letters

I was going through some boxes I had in the closet tonight and found the box with all the letters Raymond wrote me in college along with the ones I wrote him.  

I started reading the ones that I wrote Raymond beginning in January, 1981.  I graduated in May, 1981 and Raymond graduated in December, 1981.

I forgot how much we wrote each other.  There were sometimes 2-3 letters going out a day.  A lot of these letters were written before we became engaged, but we were not dating other people at the time.  

I cannot believe how much stuff I had forgotten about our lives back then.  At one point I was talking about the job interviews I was going on and I couldn't remember even applying to some of those places until I sat down and really thought about it.  I decided the reason I couldn't remember was because there was a mall opening in town at that time and I had applied to several stores.  The interviews were held in a motel because the actual stores did not exist.  I had blanked out those interviews because most of them were so strange.  

I also made references to people that I now have no memory of, at all.  I was able to remember about half of them, but some of them I am sitting here thinking "Who?"  There was one letter all about this one guy and his wife. Evidently I knew them very well as I was telling Raymond about a personal issue they were having, but now I have absolutely no clue who they were, where they lived, and how Raymond and I would have known them.  

I forgot that we tried to fix my roommate up with Raymond's roommate.  They just sat and stared at each other all night.  Very awkward.

There were letters describing how my shift went when I was night manager of this creepy little pizza parlor.  Over the years I have remembered some of the things that happened, but I blanked out a lot of stuff.  I certainly remember the strange little guy that used to come in every night and play "Secret Agent Man" on the jukebox and how one night he came up to me and told me he "smelled murder."  I really thought he was going to kill me.  That guy had the coldest stare.  What I didn't remember was another guy that would come in and hassle me, but I did tell Raymond in great detail what that guy said.  No wonder Raymond did not mind staying with me until closing at 2:00 A.M. the weekends he was in town.  I am really surprised nothing bad happened to me at that place.  It was on a very dark corner with no street lights, it was always being broken into and some of the other employees were of questionable character.

The other thing I discovered by reading the letters was just how long I have had a messed up sleep pattern.  I knew I started having issues in high school.  I did not realize until I read what I told Raymond just how little sleep I was getting in school.  Not because I partied, but because I pretty much had the same issues then as I do now.

Tomorrow night I might read the letters Raymond wrote me.  That should be fun.  I remember some of his letters being laugh out loud funny.  

How that man ever put up with me I will never know, but I am glad he did.