The Love Letters

This short story is from <Feel Better Compilation of Short Stories for Seniors> by Bradley Windrow. It is perfect for seniors, even for dementia patients. Be sure to read until the end, as there’s a special gift waiting for you! hope you enjoy it!

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count; it’s the life in your years. –Abraham Lincoln

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, residents of the local retirement home, were well-known characters. Their big arguments were famous among the other residents. These spats were always dramatic, followed by long stretches of silent treatment that could last for days. Their latest argument was no different, and soon, they were both giving each other the cold shoulder. After a day of silence, Mr. Bennet decided to break the ice in a way that didn’t require speaking. He left a note on the kitchen table:

Can we have pasta for dinner tonight? – Mr. Bennet 

Mrs. Bennet found the note while making her afternoon tea. She rolled her eyes but decided to respond in kind. She grabbed a pen and wrote back on the same piece of paper:

We have no cheese. – Mrs. Bennet 

Later in the day, feeling the need to communicate but still unwilling to speak, Mrs. Bennet left her own note on the table:

Please pick up some honey from the grocery store. – Mrs. Bennet. 

Mr. Bennet, seeing the note when he went to grab a snack, grumbled to himself. He wasn’t too pleased about running errands during their silent treatment. He replied with a note of his own:

The store has no honey. – Mr. Bennet 

The next day, Mr. Bennet had an important meeting to attend and needed to be up early. He didn’t trust his alarm clock, and Mrs. Bennet usually woke him up, so he left a note on Mrs. Bennet’s nightstand:

Please wake me up at 8 a.m. I have an important meeting. – Mr. Bennet. 

Mrs. Bennet read the note and, feeling a bit mischievous, decided to comply in her own way. When Mr. Bennet woke up the next morning, he saw sunlight streaming through the window and quickly checked the clock. It was 9 a.m.! Panic and fury set in as he realized he was late for his meeting. Furious, he looked around and found a note on his bedside table:

Wake up, it’s 8 a.m. – Mrs. Bennet. 

Mr. Bennet couldn’t help but laugh despite his anger. Mrs. Bennet had followed his instructions to the letter, just not in the way he had intended. He stormed into the kitchen, where she was calmly having her morning tea.

“Really, Margaret? ‘Wake up, it’s 8 a.m.’?” he said, waving the note. Mrs. Bennet looked up with a smirk. 

“Well, you didn’t specify how to wake you up,” she said. The tension between them broke, and they both burst into laughter. The silent treatment was officially over, and they began to talk again, sharing their morning coffee.

“You know,” Mr. Bennet said, “maybe we should just talk things out next time instead of writing notes.”

“Agreed,” Mrs. Bennet replied, smiling. “But I have to admit, it was kind of fun.” From that day forward, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet decided to try a different approach to their arguments. They still had their spats, but now they found humor in their disagreements and used it to bring them closer together.

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