My Dearest Marita:
I hope you don't think it obsessive that I write these chronologies of the budding of our relationship. The human memory will dull over time and I want to recreate as accurately as possible the memories that I have always regarded as some of the most special and tender moments of my life. Please read the following and see if it comports with your memory of that Saturday night we spent together in New Haven.
First, there was Lighthouse Park on the western tip of New Haven Bay that gave us a spectacular view of the Long Island Sound. I felt embarrassed by how unabashedly I let myself feel like a kid again. Goddamit I am 53 years old. I should be thinking about retirement homes and here I am letting my heart soar and tremble like some pimply faced teenager. You made me feel so special and I guess I wasn't sure that would ever happen again.
You read, or should I say tried to, read some you boring enviro books (biodiesel wasn't it) for class but I was such a bad influence and you were constantly distracted by the fact that I could not stop talking about your fingers. How can I find something so mundane so fascinating? I could not stop gently massaging the long sinewy extensions of your hand. A goddamn kid I tell you, what the hell is happening to me.
In any event, we went to dinner at Hot Tomatoes and had a delightful evening. I remember we had our first little tug of war. The Concert in Woolsey Hall was only 4 blocks from the restaurant and you said we could have dinner at 6:00 and still have plenty of time to make the concert at 8:00. The anal retentive side of me thought that that was cutting it too close. I let you win that one and you were of course right. Though I did feel that I was denied the right to gaze upon your lovely countenance as much as I wanted. I tried to make my brain act as one of those cameras in the cell phones. I just kept snapping each time you smiled or laughed or showed frustration that I talked over you and you could not get your point made in the fullness of your expectations.
You were also right about how I would feel walking through the restaurant with you on my arm. You were simply stunning. Though I thought that the waiter took a cheap shot by calling you my daughter. My most enduring memory of the restaurant are the white columns held the second floor up. I have not been to too many multi level restaurants but this one was exquisite.
I am not a classical music fan per se. I don't know a Tchaikovsky from a Bach from a Beethoven. But Mozart's, C Minor Mass is now surely my favorite. It was beautiful and I could not believe how emotional I felt. I wonder whether I am being pulled to reconnect with my Catholic roots.
I felt slightly nauseous as you put the key in the door to your apartment. My stomach was doing cartwheels in anticipation of the rest of the evening.
You put on some music and dimmed the lights. I made us each a screwdriver and we sat on the couch. We were both giddy with joy and anticipation of what the third night of our visit would bring. Tonight the ground rule allowed us to touch each other in any intimate way except that there could be no intercourse. Surprisingly, you gave me a hard time (no pun intended) and fought me for control but I prevailed. I knew that you could not make me do something I refused to do. Nonetheless, I was fascinated at your openness in frankly discussing your interest and your needs. I have never, never had such an honest discussion about sexual need with another human being. Now, here I was discussing it with a woman I lusted (sorry but that is the right word) for for over a decade. After tonight I can die since I have experienced more than one life should be granted.
Part of me did not want to start to undress you because I knew it would be the end of one the loveliest pictures of femininity I had ever witnessed. But your insistent interest in our physical relationship had consumed me with a white hot passion that I am sure my internist would advise against. After our discussion a week ago Saturday night, I vowed not to masturbate and to save myself for our time together. Under normal circumstances, that meant I forwent relieving myself at least twice. But given the frank erotic discussions we have had and the letters I have written I am quite sure I would have found it necessary to top off that pent up anxiety at least 8 or 10 times. Yes I know that would have been excessive but what can I say. You moved me like I had not been moved in years. Indeed, I have even started to wonder if I had ever been moved like this before. This forces me to think that I had been married to a wonderful woman for three decades, she must have moved me in the early years like this. Alas, either memory fails or tragically maybe it never happened.