Everett and I had fallen in love in high school.<\/p>\n
We were one of those young couples people smiled at because we were always together. We had no money, no plans beyond the next few months, and no understanding of how quickly life could change.<\/p>\n
At 19, Everett asked me to marry him.<\/p>\n
There was no diamond ring.<\/p>\n
One afternoon, we were eating fries at our favorite diner when he walked over to an old vending machine near the entrance and fed a few coins into it.<\/p>\n
Two little plastic capsules rolled out.<\/p>\n
Inside were cheap metal rings.<\/p>\n
Everett slipped one onto my finger and grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere. Now we can afford to get married.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis thing is going to turn my finger green.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen everyone will know you\u2019re taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, I wore a simple white dress to the courthouse.<\/p>\n
Everett wore the dark suit he had bought for graduation.<\/p>\n
We exchanged those silly little rings and walked out believing we had the rest of our lives ahead of us.<\/p>\n
Seven days later, Everett was drafted.<\/p>\n
The night before he left, I cried against his chest until his shirt was wet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll come home?\u201d<\/p>\n
He held my face between his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll come home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll wait for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever long.\u201d<\/p>\n
At first, his letters arrived constantly.<\/p>\n
I read each one until the paper became soft along the folds.<\/p>\n
He wrote about the heat, the food, the men in his unit, and all the ordinary things he planned to do when he came home.<\/p>\n
Then, about six months later, the letters stopped.<\/p>\n
One week passed.<\/p>\n
Then two.<\/p>\n
Then a month.<\/p>\n
Every time a car slowed near my parents\u2019 house, I ran to the window.<\/p>\n
Finally, a man named Thomas, one of Everett\u2019s friends from his unit, came home.<\/p>\n
He sat across from me at my parents\u2019 kitchen table and could barely look me in the eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Lorraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remember gripping the edge of the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an attack. Everett disappeared afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDisappeared?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey searched. We all did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut nobody found him?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I could tell you something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
For years, I refused to believe Everett was truly gone.<\/p>\n
His body had never been found.<\/p>\n
That tiny detail became the place where I stored all my hope.<\/p>\n
My parents begged me to move forward.<\/p>\n
My mother once sat beside me and said, \u201cYou can love him and still have a life.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t know how to separate those things.<\/p>\n
Everett had promised he would return.<\/p>\n
I had promised I would wait.<\/p>\n
My older sister, Marlene, was the one who carried me through the worst of it.<\/p>\n
She brought food when I stopped eating properly.<\/p>\n
She sat beside me when I cried.<\/p>\n
Eventually, when she and her husband moved several states away, she asked me to go with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything here reminds you of him,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe you need somewhere that doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
So I went.<\/p>\n
Marlene built a full life there.<\/p>\n
She had children, then grandchildren.<\/p>\n
I became the aunt who remembered every birthday and always had room at her table.<\/p>\n
I dated a few men over the years.<\/p>\n
Some were kind.<\/p>\n
One even asked me to marry him.<\/p>\n
But every time I imagined saying yes, I saw Everett feeding coins into that vending machine and smiling at me.<\/p>\n
So I never married again.<\/p>\n
The little metal ring eventually became too tight for my finger, but I kept it in a small jewelry box beside my bed.<\/p>\n
Fifty-five years passed.<\/p>\n
I learned how to live alone.<\/p>\n
I just never learned how to stop loving the boy who had promised to come home.<\/p>\n
Then, one evening, someone knocked on my door.<\/p>\n
I was making tea.<\/p>\n
I remember being annoyed because I had just settled into my slippers.<\/p>\n
When I opened the door, the mug nearly slipped from my hand.<\/p>\n
The man standing there was old.<\/p>\n
His hair was gray, his shoulders slightly bent, and deep lines ran across a face I remembered smooth and young.<\/p>\n
But his eyes had not changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverett?\u201d<\/p>\n
His mouth trembled into a smile.<\/p>\n
Then he opened his hand.<\/p>\n
Inside lay a cheap metal ring.<\/p>\n
The matching one from the vending machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cHi, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees almost gave out.<\/p>\n
Everett reached for my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sad smile appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently not.\u201d<\/p>\n
I started crying so hard that I couldn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n
Everett pulled me against him.<\/p>\n
For a few seconds, I was 19 again.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered, \u201cI never forgot you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere have you been?\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I came.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone made sure I never found my way back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then he said the one name I never expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarlene.\u201d<\/p>\n
I actually laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew I was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew, Lorraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett reached for my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped you disappear before I could find you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I let him inside.<\/p>\n
For the next two hours, Everett told me a story that made fifty-five years of my life feel like a lie.<\/p>\n
He said he had been badly injured after the attack.<\/p>\n
For months, he had been moved between medical facilities, barely able to walk and unable to write properly.<\/p>\n
A nurse named Rosemary had helped care for him.<\/p>\n
Once he recovered enough, he tried contacting me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never received anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u0421\u0438\u043b\u043d\u0438 \u0431\u043e\u043b\u043a\u0438 \u0432\u043e \u0437\u0433\u043b\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0435? \u041d\u0430\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0435 \u0433\u043e \u043e\u0432\u0430 \u0448\u0442\u043e\u043c \u045c\u0435 \u0441\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u0431\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0435
\nNautubone<\/p>\n
See Why This Melania Trump Outfit Caused Such A Stir
\nZestradar<\/p>\n
The Way Charles Looked At Diana Will Give You Chills
\nZestradar
\n\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually, Marlene contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you had moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said you were seeing someone else. She told me you didn\u2019t want me appearing after you had finally rebuilt your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to believe her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t you come anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to find you. You had moved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Marlene convinced me to leave!\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pieces seemed to fit too easily.<\/p>\n
Marlene had encouraged me to move.<\/p>\n
She knew some of Everett\u2019s military friends.<\/p>\n
She had always been protective of me.<\/p>\n
Then Everett added another detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she had feelings for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Marlene married one of your friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to believe him.<\/p>\n
But I wanted Everett\u2019s return to make sense.<\/p>\n
That night, Marlene called.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
She called again.<\/p>\n
I turned my phone off.<\/p>\n
The following morning, she came to my house.<\/p>\n
I stood behind the curtain and watched her knock.<\/p>\n
Everett came up beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t hate her because of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe stole fifty-five years from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough time left to spend it hating people.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentence convinced me more than anything else.<\/p>\n
For the next few weeks, Everett and I tried to become young again.<\/p>\n
We went to diners.<\/p>\n
We talked until midnight.<\/p>\n
We laughed about teachers who had been dead for decades and people we had completely lost contact with.<\/p>\n
Sometimes I would look at him and feel cheated by time.<\/p>\n
I had missed his thirties.<\/p>\n
His forties.<\/p>\n
His children\u2014if he had any.<\/p>\n
His ordinary mornings.<\/p>\n
His bad days.<\/p>\n
One evening, his phone buzzed while we were having dinner.<\/p>\n
Everett glanced at the screen and immediately turned it facedown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you answering?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone from my old life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something in his voice made me pause.<\/p>\n
Then he smiled and squeezed my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat life doesn\u2019t matter anymore. You do.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to believe him.<\/p>\n
So I did.<\/p>\n
A few days later, Everett asked why two people in their seventies were wasting time dating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you suggest?\u201d I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re already married.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen let\u2019s do it properly again.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time in decades, I let myself imagine a future instead of mourning the past.<\/p>\n
We planned a tiny backyard ceremony.<\/p>\n
Everett wanted it soon.<\/p>\n
Very soon.<\/p>\n
He also began asking practical questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this house paid off?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a will?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u0421\u0438\u043b\u043d\u0438 \u0431\u043e\u043b\u043a\u0438 \u0432\u043e \u0437\u0433\u043b\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0435? \u041d\u0430\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0435 \u0433\u043e \u043e\u0432\u0430 \u0448\u0442\u043e\u043c \u045c\u0435 \u0441\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u0431\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0435
\nNautubone<\/p>\n
\u041f\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0430\u0458\u0434\u0435\u043d \u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0458\u043c\u043e\u045c\u043d\u0438\u043e\u0442 \u043b\u0435\u043a \u0437\u0430 \u045c\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442!
\nLossless<\/p>\n
The 6 Alien Races That Have Made Contact With Earth
\nZestradar
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not 19 anymore. We should make sure each other is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
It sounded reasonable.<\/p>\n
Still, something about how often money entered the conversation unsettled me.<\/p>\n
The day before the wedding, I invited family over and told them the news.<\/p>\n
Then Marlene arrived.<\/p>\n
She walked into my backyard, saw Everett, and stopped.<\/p>\n
He leaned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the face of someone who never thought her lie would walk back through the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger returned immediately.<\/p>\n
Marlene looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot marry him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you\u2019re worried about me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLorraine, please listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew he was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene turned toward Everett.<\/p>\n
Then she looked back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to hear the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI listened to you fifty-five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou convinced me to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew things you never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did something terrible. But not for the reason he told you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarlene, don\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to tell me what to do anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she faced me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk your husband who Rosemary is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name struck something in my memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nurse?\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett went completely still.<\/p>\n
Marlene gave a small, bitter laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. His nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped me recover. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell Lorraine how long she kept helping you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett almost never raised his voice.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than the shouting itself.<\/p>\n
He quickly softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSweetheart, are you really going to let your sister come between us again?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Marlene.<\/p>\n
Then at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene stared at me for several seconds.<\/p>\n
Then she said quietly, \u201cBefore you marry him, ask yourself why he came back now.\u201d<\/p>\n
That night, Everett slept beside me.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
At two in the morning, I lay staring at the ceiling while all the questions I had ignored began lining up.<\/p>\n
Why didn\u2019t Everett still have the letters Marlene supposedly wrote him?<\/p>\n
Why had he been so eager to marry immediately?<\/p>\n
Why did he keep asking about my house and my will?<\/p>\n
Why did Rosemary\u2019s name make him angry?<\/p>\n
And why, after fifty-five years, had he suddenly found me now?<\/p>\n
I slipped out of bed and drove to Marlene\u2019s.<\/p>\n
She opened the door wearing a robe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew you\u2019d come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene sat across from me.<\/p>\n
Then she destroyed the story Everett had built.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t spend fifty-five years trying to find you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRosemary happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene told me Everett had begun a relationship with the nurse while recovering.<\/p>\n
Then Rosemary became pregnant.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was married to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett never legally married Rosemary because he was still legally married to me.<\/p>\n
But they spent nearly fifty years together.<\/p>\n
They had children.<\/p>\n
A home.<\/p>\n
Friends who knew Rosemary as his wife.<\/p>\n
I could barely breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did Thomas tell me Everett was dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Everett asked him to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to shrink around me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t lose me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene nodded.<\/p>\n
Tears filled my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at first. I learned later through my husband.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you didn\u2019t tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you would survive believing he had died better than knowing he had chosen another woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was not your decision!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched me wait for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty-five years, Marlene.\u201d<\/p>\n
She began crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe longer I waited, the harder it became to tell you. After five years, I had to admit I had lied for five years. After twenty, I had to admit I had watched you build your whole life around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd after fifty-five?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was furious with her.<\/p>\n
But for the first time, I understood her part in the lie.<\/p>\n
Then another question came.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Everett chose Rosemary, why is he in my house now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene wrote a phone number on a piece of paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cCall his son.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conversation lasted twelve minutes.<\/p>\n
Rosemary had died less than a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Most of what she owned had gone to their children.<\/p>\n
Everett had depended heavily on her financially.<\/p>\n
After she died, the children stopped supporting him the way he expected.<\/p>\n
Then he began looking for me.<\/p>\n
When I hung up, Marlene asked, \u201cAre you canceling the wedding?\u201d<\/p>\n
I folded the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLorraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Everett wants his happy ending, I think he deserves one he\u2019ll remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next afternoon, my backyard filled with guests.<\/p>\n
Everett looked delighted when he saw me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlene offered me her arm.<\/p>\n
Everett smiled when he saw us together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad you two worked things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ceremony began.<\/p>\n
Everett cried during his vows.<\/p>\n
Then came mine.<\/p>\n
The officiant smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cLorraine, do you take Everett to be your husband?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked straight at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The yard went silent.<\/p>\n
Everett blinked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI said no.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarlene got to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, your son did.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the color disappeared from Everett\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
Someone behind us gasped.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRosemary wasn\u2019t just your nurse. She was your partner for almost fifty years. She was the mother of your children and the woman you built a life with while I believed you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLorraine, please.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never married her because legally, you were still married to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Yesterday it was complicated. Today it\u2019s very simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stepped toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should discuss this privately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy? You were perfectly happy to accuse my sister in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
I looked directly at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRosemary died. Her money went to your children. When they stopped supporting you, suddenly your wife from fifty-five years ago became very interesting again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not why I came back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were you so concerned about whether my house was paid off?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my will?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLorraine\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t call me sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression finally cracked.<\/p>\n
I had imagined this man returning for most of my life.<\/p>\n
But standing there, I no longer saw the 19-year-old boy with a cheap vending-machine ring.<\/p>\n
I saw an old man who had returned only when he needed somewhere soft to land.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t come back because you remembered me,\u201d I said. \u201cYou came back because you remembered what I might have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe part of you loved me once. I loved you too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reached for my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can still fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were right about one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt our age, we shouldn\u2019t waste time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed toward the gate.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo please don\u2019t waste another minute in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everett left without another word.<\/p>\n
For a while, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Then Marlene came to stand beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you forgive me?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the empty chairs, the flowers, and the little box in my hand that contained the cheap metal ring I had saved for fifty-five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot today.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe someday?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, after everyone left, I opened the box one last time.<\/p>\n
For most of my life, I had believed keeping that ring meant I was loyal.<\/p>\n
I finally understood something.<\/p>\n
Loyalty should never require you to disappear inside someone else\u2019s story.<\/p>\n
I closed the box and placed it in the back of a drawer.<\/p>\n
For fifty-five years, I had waited for Everett.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t waiting for anyone anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Everett and I had fallen in love in high school. We were one of those young couples people smiled at because we were always together. We had no money, no plans beyond the next few months, and no understanding of how quickly life could change. At 19, Everett asked me to marry him. There was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5956,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955\/revisions\/5956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}