In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• six  “You and I Will Die of Love” W hen Fabio and Rogelia died, they left behind a few photographs and a bundle of love letters (mostly from him to her), but hardly any memories for their daughters to cherish. They died so early in their marriage that to their children, orphaned barely out of infancy, they might have always been ghosts. Were it not for those letters, Fabio and Rogelia would have remained strangers to me, their daughter, mere faces that looked out of picture frames. As I read their letters, though, the two came back to life, and when they did, they also resurrected the world they had inhabited, preserving it from oblivion. Among that bundle of letters there is a small envelope containing two or three dried flowers, already turning to dust, that he, no doubt, gave her during their courtship and that she kept as mementoes. A two-inch heart cut out of red fabric and pasted onto paper shares the envelope with the flowers. On the reverse (the paper side), written in red ink, are the words “Tú y yo de amor nos moriremos” (You and I will die of love), and above thewords, in the same ink, is the date “3-17-45,” while at the bottom, also in the same ink and hand, the number 47 was added. At first glance, it seems obvious that Fabio must have written those words and dates soon after her death in 1947, but a comparison of the handwriting on the heart with that of his letters to her reveals differences between the two. The numbers, in particular, are different in each instance; specifically, the 7 on the back of the heart is done in the European style, with a bar across the stroke, unlike the 7s that appear elsewhere. If Fabio did not pen that epitaph on the back of the heart, then only the heart itself is left to elucidate the mystery of the inscription. On close inspection, two pinpricks are visible in the fabric of which it is made, indicating the likelihood that at one time it had been pinned to a lapel, per- • 138  From the Republic of the Rio Grande haps as an etiqueta, or admission badge, to a subscription dance, such as were held in Guerrero. The heart would make one think of a Saint Valentine ’s Daydance, but the date corresponds instead with Saint Patrick’s Day, which is not celebrated in Mexico. The dance held on March 17, 1945, may have celebrated Carnival, whose date varies according to the liturgical calendar. Usually, though, dances in Guerrero were held at regular times set by the sponsoring organizations , such as the Club Femenil Guerrerense, the local ladies’ club, or La Fraternal, a men’s club. For whatever reason, the middle of March seems to have been set aside for a dance on more than one occasion, for Fabio refers to another such event in his earliest surviving letter to Rogelia, dated March 16, 1938. In it he mentions a dance recently held, where he had hoped to see her: “Esperaba verte en el baile” (I expected to see you at the dance), he tells her. But what significance that particular dance held seven years later, in 1945, remains a secret between the two. Still, the author of the caption on the heart must have had a reason for bracketing those two years from 1945 to 1947, which spanned the last two years of Fabio and Rogelia’s marriage. The writer—if it was not Fabio himself—must have known the couple, perhaps even read their letters, to have summarized their history in those few words: “Tú y yo de amor nos moriremos.” For their history—particularly the unfolding of their troubled courtship—can be found in those letters, primarily those from him to her. Indeed, in one of his early letters, dated December 8, 1938, he writes, as if he wants to leave a record for posterity, “Haré historia” (I will recount our history), and he proceeds to recount the story of how he fell in love with her. “Te conosí, o te encontré un domingo en la tarde” (I met you, or I encountered you, on a Sunday afternoon).” In Spanish, conocer means either to meet or to encounter, and that is, undoubtedly, why he clarified his meaning. He “encountered” her because he most certainly had already met herorat least knew who shewas.Guerrerowas a small town, and his family...

Share