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The Letter
#202 ~ October 1, 1999
by PapaC
KYLE~
Syd accompanies Kyle to his appointment with the surgeon. The surgeon reviews his x-ray, and tells them that there
is a hairline fracture and surgery is necessary immediately. Syd explains that they were expecting a few months
of chemotherapy first. The surgeon bluntly tells them that there could be a serious problem, and amputation may
be required. Kyle is growing more nervous.
Before surgery, Syd visits Kyle. He has watched a program on television about the power of prayer; both are unsure
how much they believe in it. He tells her he is sure of just one thing: her.
Syd finds his surgeon and requests to scrub in on the surgery. The surgeon refuses. Syd complains about her abruptness
and lack of bedside manner, and calls her a choice name. The surgeon is rude, but makes it clear she is very dedicated
to doing all she can to save Kyle's arm.
After the surgery, Syd checks in on Kyle, who is still unconscious. She looks under the sheet, and the arm is still
there. She finds the surgeon, who is still in scrubs, sitting with her head in her hands. They shake hands.
JOANNIE and the BARKERY~
Joannie's new employee, Doug, relates a little too well to the dogs in the shop. He appears to understand the dog
of a particular customer. He exhibits canine mannerisms, such as circling before he sits down. Finally, Joannie
catches him woofing down Barkery treats out back in the storeroom, in doggie style (without hands). She regrets
that she must fire him, as that is stealing. He sadly leaves.
Later, the customer returns and is very disappointed to find Doug gone. Joannie tells her that he is out sick for
awhile. She looks at his application, notes the address, and goes to find him. The address belongs to a dog grooming
salon. She goes around back, to the alley, and looks inside a dog house there. Doug is lying inside, huddled up,
twitching in his sleep.
The FAMILY~
The show began with Syd dreaming of her mother. Her mother is looking for a nice dress to wear. Syd inquires why,
and her mother reminds her that it is the anniversary of her death. She thinks the family should go out to a particular
fancy restaurant where her father enjoys the vichyssoise, a family dinner in her memory.But her mother warns her
that her dad is wracked with guilt...
Syd wakens and tells her siblings of the dinner plan. Joannie thinks a graveside memorial would be more appropriate.
Robbie wants to not think about it at all. Her father comes down and suggests that they have dinner at the restaurant
in honor of their mother's memory. In fact, for the rest of the day, he continues to feel his late wife's presence:
he smells her cigarettes, calls Heather by Linda's name, and even sees Linda in the mirror. This takes him by surprise,
and he tells Syd about it. He also tells her that people tend to forget all the bad things when someone is gone,
and tells her things weren't always so happy in this house. He starts to mention a letter he wrote to her mother,
which she found on the day of her death (which, if you recall, was Joannie's wedding day - the wedding that didn't
take place), in which he said things he regretted. She inquires what he wrote, but he won't say.
Syd mentions the letter to Joannie later. She can't immediately recall, as the day was hectic for her, but she
begins to remember her wedding morning, and a heated argument between her mother and herself. Joannie, quite obviously
nine months pregnant, was complaining about her appearance, and her mother responded by telling her she shouldn't
have gotten herself knocked up. Joannie is hurt, but at this point her mother finds the letter which has fallen
out of her father's pocket onto the bed; glancing at it, she abruptly stops talking. Both girls now wonder what's
in the letter, and to whom it was written: their mother, or another woman.
Syd and Joannie go up to their father's room to look for the letter, and are caught by their father. Syd admits
she told Joannie what he had told her, and tells him she's worried about him. He refuses to tell them what the
letter was about, and adds that it may have been what killed their mother.
Robbie is upset and moody all day. When Syd reminds him about dinner, he says he doesn't want to go: it's all a
sham. He reminds her that she had been living away, and didn't know what went on at home. It wasn't all that happy.
She responds that she feels that she must have walked right into that unhappiness when she returned home for the
wedding, but has only now realized it. She recalls going into her parents' room on the wedding morning to borrow
perfume, and her mother telling her that Joannie's predicament was Syd's fault. Syd had been Joannie's "moral
compass", and Syd had left. Syd responds that Joannie always did the opposite of what she herself had done,
and that while she thinks her mother has every right to be stressed out on her daughter's wedding day, she will
not be in the middle of it. Robbie is relieved to hear that he wasn't the only one being blamed. He recalls the
wedding morning, also entering his parents' room. Alone, he opens his mother's drawers, and, rifling through things,
sees the letter and glances at it. His mother comes in the room then and tells him, "I'd have given you the
money if you'd asked". He responds, "That's the problem, Mom - you always do." Right then, his father
enters the room.
Robbie later goes to the attic and takes out the letter, which he had hidden in a box. He intends to burn it, but
doesn't.
When the family all sit down at the restaurant, Mr. Hansen begins with a toast to the memory of his wife. Robbie
responds that they should not be doing this, and that they all have a right to hear what's in the letter. His father
tries to take it from him, and the girls tell them to sit down.
At home, Mr. Hansen tells them they all have a right to know. It was not a letter to their mother, but to Joannie,
for her wedding day. It was supposed to be a letter about what a marriage should be, but ended up being about what
a marriage should not be. He tells them that when he was first married, he always told their mother that he loved
her before leaving each day for work. Then one day, he didn't tell her. And he didn't tell her the next day, or
the next. Years went by, and he neglected to tell her. It seemed like it wasn't important, but it was. He says
if he had known he'd never see her again, he'd have told her he loved her that day. She deserved that. The girls
cry, and Robbie hugs him. Joannie suggests they retire for the night, but Mr. Hansen says he's starving. They all
decide to whip up some dinner, together.
At night, Syd's mother appears to her again. She tells Syd that,
of course, the letter isn't what killed her: she packed 3 packs of cigarettes a day for thirty years - that's what
killed her! She also tells her that in life, you dance with the man you brought to the party. They're in Jim's
bedroom, and her mother notices that he still sleeps on "his" side of the bed. She wonders if he would
mind if she joined him - she misses sleep! She lies down next to him, and both immediately roll to face away from
one another, and go to sleep.
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