DEAR ABBY: While I was moving a few boxes in the garage of our Montecito, Calif., home, I spotted an aging envelope. The postmark was barely legible: Atolia, Calif., Sept. 3, 1933. The writing was definitely mine. Enough of garage cleaning; I retreated to the porch overlooking the nearby Santa Barbara harbor.
Comfortably seated, I carefully opened the deteriorating envelope. The first few lines brought both memories and a smile. It was a love letter I had written decades ago while employed as a miner far out in the California desert. The letter was directed to a girl in Hermosa Beach, Calif., whom I must have loved very much. Gazing at the boats leaving the harbor, my mind was flooded with memories of the girl in Hermosa Beach. How well I recalled her laughing smile and diminutive size.
My thoughts of the distant past were interrupted by someone calling from the other end of the porch. A lovely woman was approaching holding a new gray suit. "You will look real handsome at our 50th anniversary next week," she said.
It was the girl from Hermosa Beach -- older, but as attractive as ever. -- DOUGLAS AND JUANITA ROBERTSON
DEAR DOUGLAS AND JUANITA: Congratulations on your 50th wedding anniversary. May you enjoy many more decades together.