I have never lost touch with the sister of my first boyfriend, Guido. He died in 1948, at the age of 23. I was 17. Rose is 5 years older than I am and has just had her 91st birthday. For the longest time, we would just chat in the occasional phone call, but recently non-techie Rose, with the aid of younger members of her family, got on Facebook. This has put me in touch with relatives of hers I did not know back then, but who are interested in me because I loved their late uncle, whom they adored.

It is poignant to be in touch with people who could have been my in-laws and family, as Guy, as he preferred to be called, and I were planning to be married.

I don’t know how successful a marriage that would have been because I evolved from a child into a very competent adult with worldly pursuits and jobs that eventually led me to big world publishing. Would Guy have grown as well? In any case, that was the road not taken, wrested away as it was by circumstance.

What is definitely heartening is that her son and the sons of her brothers are all politically smart and progressive and love my Facebook posts.

Rose has difficulty traveling, so I can’t get her to come visit. Maybe I can swindle a trip to Illinois.

xx, Teal