Time Travel

Starting in February, 2011, I began reading the many letters into my computer, using Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software.  On and on, everyday, I read aloud the words Walter had written me all those years ago.   And then all the words I had written him in return.  It took a long time, many days and weeks!   Some of the letters were pages and pages, pouring out our thoughts to the other so far away!   


I lived in New Orleans then, a beautiful, strange city -- like living in a foreign country within our American borders.  Walter lived in the Western Cape region of South Africa, a pastoral setting, quiet and green, away from the bustle of a big city.  Stellenbosch is a picture from the past with white gabled Cape Dutch buildings, old oak trees, and a view of the mountains. Only half an hour from the cosmopolitan city of Cape Town, the people of this village retain the Afrikaans language.  Worlds apart -- New Orleans and Stellenbosch -- but linked by our letters to each other!  


And so far from Belgium where Walter and I had met!   The letters began with remembrances from our time together -- the walk in the woods where we thought we saw fairies, the excursion to Brugge where we lit the candle, and the day in Brussels when we left the conference early to spend our last day together.  That much could have been the whole romance, but neither of us was ready to let the story end there.  So we wrote -- what we were doing, what we were thinking, what we were wishing.  Soon Walter began sending me occasional audio cassette tapes, as well.   And we talked on the phone, brief conversations limited by the expense of such a long distance. 


Last winter and spring felt like time travel -- I lived in 2011, but I spent my days in 1984.  Over the years I hadn't forgotten that time, but life had intruded and the details had faded somewhat.  Reading the letters brought it back, with all the romance, dreams, and travel!   I was so busy back then, teaching at Loyola, going to parties and gallery openings, and raising my son.   What amazing memories!


I still had so many questions about how to turn all these letters into a book.  My first impulse was to edit and publish the letters, as just that:  the letters between Walter and me.  But I didn't think that told enough of the story -- the references in the letters to our time together wasn't complete, just snapshots.  I asked a long-time friend Norma to read some of the letters to help me decide.  She and I had studied English literature together in grad school at UT Austin, so I knew she would have good advice.  She agreed that the letters alone weren't enough.  


Another option for the book was the fictionalize the story, turn it into a novel.  Several friends I talked to thought that was the best solution.  Nell suggested that fiction would let me change the ending, if I wanted to.  Lots to think about, but that didn't feel right!  Fiction is a great medium, but this story was true, it really happened.  The magic was that it wasn't fiction, it wasn't made up.  I still couldn't decide what to do.  So I continued reading the letters into the computer, day after day!   I felt the answers would come to me eventually.  




Future posts:  plugging gaps in my memory, translating German