This scentimental letter written by Francis J. Doyle to his beautiful bride, Mary M. (Egger) Doyle to celebrate their 20th Wedding Anniversary.
April 10, 1949
Dear Mary,
Hello there Dear little lady. What shall it be this time? How about a story of roads and beautiful scenery? This story concerns a traveler and the road he traveled. Many years ago there was a large forest of blackness and springing up at the very edge was a beautiful sunlit road. Can you see the traveler emerging from the denseness of the forest? One day the blackness of oblivion, the blackness of nothingness, the next day the sunlit road with all its beauty. Now this traveler coming onto the sunlit road is so frail and weak and his mind is clouded that he has to be cared for and nurtured tenderly to give him strength. The cloud must be removed from his mind by teaching and example to enable him to surmount the roughness of the road and the pitfalls that are ever present. So as he goes along he is accompanied by loving souls ever trying to increase his strength and knowledge, that he is able to traverse the arduous road. He is now on his own so to speak. We see him now sauntering down the road, drinking in the beauty of the scenery; thrilling each new experience and making notes in memory of each important milestone along the way. On and on he goes after mile 20-25 until 29 he comes to a crossroad.
Here his road crosses over one coming from a slightly different direction, the road of a beautiful girl. She is happy, she is adventurous, she is everything. No wonder he seeks her for a companion in his travels. For better or worse, for richer or poor to death do us part, they said. Now instead of separate roads, they merge into one big beautiful highway, the beauty of which in my poor way is impossible to describe. Oh the grand milestones that mark this highway. Do you remember passing over this highway?
At milestone one they stopped to pick a beautiful blue flower. It turned out to be a tiny traveler just arrived out of his forest of oblivion, just out of his blackness of nothingness. How thrilled the traveler and his companion were. They must nurture and teach this little one as they had been cared for and taught when they first came onto their roads. What happiness they would have. They must now look for other flowers as they passed down the road. Milestone two, another blue flower and another tiny traveler. Milestone three another blue flower. Just before they reached milestone five they found a rare type for then in as much as this flower was pink and another tiny traveler to be cared for. A little distance before milestone ten another blue flower after passing milestone thirteen quite a distance they found another blue flower, and finally just before milestone fifteen they found the last blue flower. What a nice bouquet. Six beautiful blue flowers with one pink one in the center. Can’t you see the joy of this traveler as he passes down the road with these tiny travelers? Of course, the road was not all bright and sunlight, there were a few clouds of worry but his companion always brushed them away.
Someday these small ones will have gained sufficient strength and knowledge that they will branch off on roads of their own seeking their own highway. May the traveler and his companion guide them rightly. The traveler has now arrived at milestone twenty and he stops to tell his companion how much he has appreciated her for brushing the clouds from the sky to let the sun shine brightly on the highway. Without her, the road would have been indeed a “lonesome road”. He tells her how beautiful she is with her bouquet of six blue flowers with one pink one in the center. They now pass on down the road to future milestones. May the highway be studded with beautiful scenery and wonderful experiences and may they always have happiness and devotion to each other forever and ever.
Love,
France
Cast of Characters:
- Traveler: Francis J. Doyle (1900)
- Little Lady: Mary M. (Egger) Doyle (1905)
- Blue Flower at Milestone 1: James J. Doyle (1930)
- Blue Flower at Milestone 2: Daniel F. Doyle (1931)
- Blue Flower at Milestone 3: Lawrence J. Doyle (1932)
- Pink Flower just before Milestone 5: Donna M. Doyle (1934)
- Blue Flower just before Milestone 10: David E. Doyle (1939)
- Blue Flower after passing Milestone 13: Michael E. Doyle (1941)
- Blue Flower just before Milestone 15: Francis B. Doyle (1944)