My Father was a Switchman

When Will picked his jacket up off the floor, the Valentine's Day card he had bought fell out. He picked it up, and taking the pen from his jacket signed it with, 'All my love forever, Will'. Turning to where Erin was putting the last few things into his bag, Will said, "I found this yesterday on the way to get you. I know it's a little late...okay it's a lot late, but I think that the odds of this card even still being on the racks means it was meant for us. Here's my wish for us both," he said as he handed the card to Erin.

Erin smiled at the cartoon of the two cowboys exchanging cards, then he open it up and read;

Out on the range where the women are few

This time of year my thoughts turn to you

The best 'ole buddy I ever knew

It must seem strange and it's prob'ly true

But I'm sending this card just out to you

Hoping this day...you'll be my Valentine too

All my love forever, Will

To Erin it was so perfect as to seem unreal. The difficult choices some people have to make just in order to enjoy love was cleverly said in the comical drawing. He knew this was he and Will. He knew they would face trouble at times, and he knew Will would take the brunt of that. He looked at Will and smiled, "This is perfect. It says it all, and I know it hides a sad truth behind the humor...we all know that is all too real. But I'll be there with you every step, and we'll make them the joke if they want trouble."

"It'll be fine Erin, nobody is gonna give us trouble. Most folks are too busy with their own lives to worry about two bachelors out in the lonesome high desert. Now we might ought not wear any rainbows into town, but other than that I think we'll be just fine," Will reassured him...and then slapped his thigh and said, "Let's go home!"

*****

Author's Afterword:

It had unfolded just as Will had thought it would. To any who asked who didn't need to know, they could just be ignored or Erin could just be a hired hand. To a few, they were open and honest in their relationship. But for the most part it was just as Will had said, most people are too busy to care.

Erin had brought his new bedroom toys home with him, and Will was more than eager to help him use them. They used them often as a prelude to a deeper fulfilling of love's promises, and each time Erin yielded to Will's strength they grew ever more entwined as one. Perhaps all love is a miracle, and an unlikely event in the vastness of the universe...but Will and Erin never questioned that they had been given a miracle in the unbelievable way in which their lives had collided on that lonely road in the middle of nowhere. It was a story they could rarely tell, for who would believe it. But they knew, and each year Valentine's Day took on a special...almost a sacred meaning for them.

The years passed, as they are wont to do, and the once young men weathered and aged, as all life is destined to face. As the years marched forward, their love aged like fine wine only getting better with time. So too did the understanding and acceptance of the many shades of humanity. It was Erin who wondered aloud once about Will's Uncle Giles and the hired hand he always had on the ranch. Will too had thought about it, but couldn't say for sure, "All we know now in looking back is that there is a long history of different kinds of unions everywhere. I'd like to think Uncle Giles found love like we have...I've stared into the darkness of living without love, and it's a darkness I wouldn't wish on anyone."

*****

The End