Maybe Next Time

Dan and Emma have established a practice of writing letters to one another on the anniversary of their first meeting. These letters are an important plot device for conveying backstory but also symbolize their connection and the strength of their relationship. The letters show the emotional territory that the couple has covered and hint at challenges to come. Emma thinks of them as one of their honest and more pure techniques for communication, “an opportunity to truly reflect on where we were and what we needed to do” (134-35). In some cases, the letters have altered the course of their relationship; the letter Dan wrote while they were separated reached Emma just before she learned he was in the hospital; touched by this connection and knowing his feelings for her, she rushed to be with him. As a consequence, she thinks later, “That letter brought him back into my life at a point where I really thought I’d lost him” (135).

That Emma has forgotten the significance of the date the first time around, writing a rushed letter in the bathroom, shows that Dan has fallen to the bottom of her to-do list. When he tears up his first letter to her, the one in which he expressed his loneliness and regretted that they spent so little quality time together, Emma takes it as a sign that she has begun mending their relationship. Dan’s letters, which she calls funny and honest—expressive of his personality—give her insight into Dan’s feelings, which represent a counterpoint to Emma’s perspective. The last letter he writes confirms that Emma has learned her lesson and that their relationship is as strong as ever. The letters indicate that the effort to reach out to one another and honestly communicate helps each of them value one another and their relationship, something that can get lost amid the demands of everyday life.