WORD 2003 in Outlook

Hi all I have racked my brains and sought out help but I cannot find the answer to my question so I found you all here. I wrote a letter in word but did not send it...I deleted it by backspacing it out. I actually wrote it in wordpad but it ended up in word itself.
Anyway to continue..I was checking around and noticed that the letter is still listed even though it was deleted. I clicked on it and window said couldn't do anything with it. I have checked throughout my system and its not anywhere I can see. I noticed that one of my resumes is there as well and that was deleted as well---same thing doesn't open.
I am guessing that this is no "biggie" since neither of them opens.....but IF IT IS DELETED..why are they still there in word on side under OPEN? I use XP HOME . This OS is just for home use but I like to know what is going on and I have never come across this before. Any comments and help would be appreciated!!