A Letter From Diane

”Letters from Diane” just never made it as a series or a column. Here is an example of a girl in college writing to her boyfriend back on the farm.

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Hey, you’d like this. My niece said to me, “What’s your birthday’s name?”

I took a guess at what she meant. I was going to say it was April, but I got a great idea. “My birthday’s name is flowers,” I said. “Daffodils and little buds on trees. My birthday’s name is showers that come from nowhere. Can you guess what it is?”

She thought for a while and said, “Your birthday’s name is April.”

“You’re right,” I replied, “My birthday’s name is new spring dresses and hats and shoes.”

I hadn’t thought about my birthday’s name. It was always just sort of there and I never thought of it having a personality and a name of its own.

Her birthday’s name is haying-time and hot days, fire-crackers, picnics and hotdogs. You can guess when that is.

The format was an excerpt from “Letters,” with one topic worked into a pretend second page. I did three.