How I Met My Husband

"He always tells the children the story of how I went after him by sitting by the mailbox every day, and naturally I laugh and let him, because I like for people to think what pleases them and makes them happy."

This short story's plot and structure revolved around the surprise ending. The author set up the story so the reader would expect Chris Watters to marry Edie, but he never comes for her. Looking back on the story, Edie's relationship with Chris did seem too good to be true. She was a young, innocent girl, and he was the pilot from the war craving adventure. Since Chris was always searching for excitement by traveling in his plane and offering rides, he was not the type of man to want to settle down. He had not married his fiancee yet, and they had been engaged for awhile. He would not suddenly settle down with young Edie, and eventually she realized that and stopped waiting for the letters. It was then, at the end of the story, when the reader is finally introduced to the husband, the mailman. I changed my expectations when Edie started to talk about how long she waited by the mailbox, and I doubted whether the letter would come. It seemed like Edie then settled for the mailman, and she ends with a humorous telling of how he thinks she was waiting for him.