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

My best friend told me the wedding would be small and Margaret’s family was helping them get settled.

Then I reached the bottom. There was one more thing.

Jeffrey asked me not to contact him again.

He said Margaret knew how close we’d been and that he wanted to give his marriage a fair start. Jeffrey said our friendship mattered too much to him to let it become something that hurt someone else.

Then he wrote:

“I hope you have a wonderful life, Ruthie.

I’m sorry.

Jeffrey.”

I cried for weeks.

But I respected his choice. I didn’t write back, call, or try to see him.

I heard pieces of his life through people who still knew his family. He and Margaret had a child, and he built a career.

Eventually, the updates stopped too.

I have never been married. I dated and had relationships.