The betrayal deepened when I asked about his parents who had known about his release but never reached out to me. Thomas confessed that he had lied to them as well by claiming he had written to me and that I had explicitly asked him never to contact me again. His parents had spent their lives believing they were respecting my wishes while I spent mine waiting for their son. Daniel stood near the doorway looking profoundly unsettled as he realized his grandfather had never told the family that I had spent decades believing he was a casualty of war. The situation grew more agonizing when the mother of Daniel and his uncle Peter arrived with groceries and warmly welcomed me as the first love of their father. Thomas reached out hoping we could spend time together to make up for the lost years but I looked at his family and refused. I explained to his children that although the war had separated us he had actually returned in 1973 and chosen to keep it a secret. I realized I did not want to punish his children for a lie they had no part in creating.
Daniel walked me outside and apologized for not asking more questions about the history his grandfather had provided but I gently assured him he had the opportunity to ask those questions now. I requested that he drive me to the memorial before returning me to Ruth and we rode in absolute silence. At the stone honoring those who never returned I took the photograph from my purse and looked at our younger faces. We had once been so certain that our love would carry us through any hardship but I finally understood that I needed to let him go. I placed the white rose at the base of the memorial but for the first time in fifty five years I kept the photograph in my purse as I whispered that I had truly loved him and would never apologize for that. When Ruth picked me up she simply offered to take me anywhere I wanted to go. I realized I had spent decades postponing my life and told her I finally wanted to see the ocean. Flying home I looked out the window and was ready to discover what the rest of my life might hold without waiting for a broken promise.