His eyes filled. And in that moment, I understood something clearly. I was not the one slipping away. He had simply spent so many years preparing for goodbye that he had forgotten how to say hello.
The Drive Home
We drove home in silence again. But this silence felt different. It was the silence of two people thinking the same thoughts at the same time.
The house had not changed. But I had.
The drawer was still open. The letters were still there. I picked one up and sat across from him at the kitchen table.
“I do not want to lose you, Mattie,” he said softly. “But I am finally beginning to understand that I have been losing you all along by loving you like you were already leaving.”
He took a breath.
“I cannot promise I will never feel afraid. But I can promise I will not turn that fear into a future you are forced to live in. I want to be here with you while you are here with me. Not ahead of it. Not after it. Just here.”
For the first time that night, I truly believed him.
