Mama and Margaret and I have been sewing whenever we don’t have other chores to do. All three of us, plus some ladies from church, are working on my wedding quilt right now and it’s coming along slowly.
Now that the weather is getting nicer and the snow is melting, Thomas comes to the house frequently and we take long walks together. Sometimes he brings Lady and Jesse and sometimes he leaves them in town in the care of the woman who works at the general store. I have spoken to the children once since becoming engaged to Thomas and they seem very happy that I am going to marry their father and move into the new homestead with them.
Only one thing has happened to mar the happiness I’ve felt over the past several weeks. Yesterday Thomas came to visit and we went walking, as we usually do. I asked him about his first wife and he became sullen and withdrawn. He said he didn’t like to talk about her. I think it’s only normal for me to want to know about her, but Thomas disagrees. He says the less we say about her, the better it will be for everyone. Come to think of it, I have never heard the children mention her name and it makes me wonder if he allows them to discuss her at home. If they don’t talk about her in front of him, perhaps they talk about her between themselves. I hope they do. It would seem very important for children to be able to talk about their own mother after her death.
As soon as I mentioned his first wife to him, Thomas turned around and started walking back to my house. He didn’t even help me over the snow banks that still dot the fields. I’m glad I’m learning more about the likes and dislikes of my husband-to-be.
T