She was the first woman I had ever truly believed I would spend my entire life with.
We studied together.
We walked across campus together.
We spent hours talking about the future.
I had even proposed to her.
But life had other plans.
I had accepted a job in another state.
Anna didn’t want to leave her family.
I didn’t want to give up the opportunity.
We argued.
Then we stopped talking.
Eventually, the calls stopped.
The letters stopped.
And one day, without either of us officially deciding it was over, it simply became over.
I hadn’t seen her since.
For nearly forty years.
I looked at Carol.
“Why are you talking about Anna?”
She closed her eyes.
“Find her.”
I thought I had heard incorrectly.
“What?”
“Find Anna.”
“Why?”
Her eyes opened again.
There was fear in them.
Not fear of death.
Something else.
Something that confused me even more.
“Because you need to know.”
“Know what?”
She looked toward the window.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Carol, you’re asking me to find a woman I haven’t spoken to in almost forty years, and you won’t tell me why?”
“She will.”
“Who?”
“Anna.”
I stood up.
My mind was racing.
