In the book Bridges of Madison County the story is told by Francesca, one of the main characters. Today I will be telling the story in the eyes of her kids. This story begins when the son and daughter of Francesca find out that their mother just passed away. It begins with them driving to the home where they grew up in. They go over her will and everything that happens when someone dies. During their mothers story be sure to pay attention to how she finds love for the second time. Love is a strong thing. Even if you meet someone and only know them for four days, you can fall in love with them.
It was the night that you kids and your father left for the Illinois state fair. I read this from the three journals my mother left us. She wrote them telling us about the time that she was unfaithful to our father, and little helpful things to keep us moving on in life. We were leaving right after we ate and packed. You could tell that my mother was getting excited for us to leave. She was going to have four days all to herself. The sun was just setting when we left. My mother sat on the porch for a couple minutes for some fresh air. After a few minutes of sitting on the porch a car approached the house. My mother is a very brave women, so her first instinct was to stand up and walk to the end of the driveway. A man got out of the car and started walking towards the house. He was just about to speak when my mother quickly said are you lost?
An hour or two had gone by and Robert, the man who was in the truck, and my mother were still talking. She said it felt like they were really getting to know each other, and eventually it got to the point where my mother asked Robert to stay for dinner. "I really liked getting to know Robert," said my mother. He seems to listen to my problems and everything that I had to say. I want you guys to know that I lover your father, I really do! said my mother. As I read on, I started learning things about Robert. I found out things like his last name is Kincaid and that he is a photographer for the National Geographic Magazine. It was getting kind of late and my mother didn't want to just say you have to leave, so she invited him to spend the night on one of the couches. He accepted the offer and took the couch.
It was the next morning and Robert was still asleep. My mother wanted to give a good second impression. She took a quick shower, and made some breakfast for them to eat. It only took a couple minutes for Robert to smell the bacon and eggs for him to wake up. We didn't like the fact that this stranger slept on our couch.
It was the second day that we were gone and he was still at our house. My mother was starting to like him, she said he was nice, sweet and handsome. While we were reading this we were getting kind of upset with our mother. Not the fact that she didn't tell us that she cheated and acted like she was still in love with our father, but the fact that she didn't tell us right away. I guess you could say that she was probably nervous to tell us because she didn't want us to hate her and go and tell our dad.
For the second day that Robert was there, they took pictures. The only reason that Robert was in Madison County was to get pictures of the old Roseman Bridge for the National Geographic Magazine. It was something new for my mom, her usual life was cooking, cleaning and doing other things for us and the house. My mother described the day to us as one of the most romantic days of her life in a while.
We were starting to understand why our mother said it was one of the most romantic days in her life. We didn't really do anything for my mother, she was the one who did everything around the house and for us. Occasionally we helped out, but not on a normal basis.
We kept on reading the diary and it was the third day that we were gone and Robert was at our house. For that day all they really did was relax and get to know each other. They talked and talked and as we read we even learned more about out mother and Robert. The sun was setting and it was getting close to dinner time. Robert asked if he could take a shower before they ate. While Robert showered our mother got dinner ready. My mother said that he came down from his shower and said he was looking pretty good. They were just about to start to eat when a romantic song came on and he asked her to dance. Things were getting intense they were getting close and touching. Eventually he leaned in to kiss her, our mother said she was wanting for him to do that all day. They ended up skipping dinner and just danced and had a great time.
It was the morning of the day that we were coming home. Our mother wasn't too happy that her romantic weekend was going to end and she was going to go back to cooking and cleaning. Robert left decently early in the morning; he didn't want to take any chances with getting caught being there when we got back. As my mother watched him drive off into the distance she said she was wishing he would turn around and come back. She noted that we got back late afternoon and when we did she was happy to see us.
We ended up living our lives as we did before she met Robert. She wrote that she thought about him everyday until she passed on. Love is a strong thing, even if you meet someone and only know them for four days, you can fall in love with them.
