When We Were 19, My Best Friend and I Promised That If We Were Both Single at 60, We’d Find Each Other – I Turned 60 Last Tuesday, & My Old Landline Rang

He started crying.

“That’s what I’ve spent 40 years wishing I could explain.”

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“What ring?”

My best friend’s voice dropped.

“I need you to come here.”

“Jeffrey…”

“Please come to the hospital.”

His breathing was uneven.

“There’s one thing you need to see. Once you do, you’ll understand why I walked away.”

“Jeffrey… I…”

“Please, Ruth. Hurry.”

I grabbed my coat.

“Where are you?”

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“Please come to the hospital.”

***

Forty minutes later, I walked into his hospital room. Jeffrey looked at me and smiled.

“Hey, Ruthie.”

I cried before I could stop myself.

“Hey, idiot.”

Then I saw the chair beside his bed.

There was a wooden box I knew.

It had belonged to my father, Thomas.

I cried before I could stop myself.

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He used to keep important papers in it. But after he died, I searched the house for it and never found it.

I looked at Jeffrey.

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