Until We Meet Again

There was silence the moment they entered a room. No one dared to speak of what they all knew to be the tragic awful truth and even with their hands intertwined, the blankness in their eyes gave their secret away. The fairy tale that once surrounded them had long ended and though they tried their best to keep that image alive, their crumbling empire was slowly burying them alive.

Through the smiles and the kind words, everyone had the same thing on their minds. It was hard to look at the two of them without thinking about it. The congregation had always admired and looked up to them both, as they were once the shining example of what every successful marriage should be. No one could have predicted that she would do the things that she had done or that it would come to this. 

She tried to forget, but the warmth of her touch still lingered amidst the stares of well-known strangers and late into the night. The memories and the rumors continued to follow her, long after forgiveness had been given and promises made. She didn’t regret her decision, but she hated the way it made him feel and how it made him seem to them. He was once their leader, a very powerful man who could ask for nothing more. It was different now and they only felt sorry for him. Every Sunday morning was torture as he stood behind that podium, palms sweaty and trembling from embarrassment. She sat in the front row staring up at him with tear-filled eyes, clutching a book that felt much heavier now. It was difficult not to let the tears fall, but she had to stay strong for him and for the family who was holding it together for her. 

He could have walked away just as easily as their friends had done, but he saw something in her that they could never see and he loved her more than anything. There would be many sleepless nights and many hours of awkward silence. There would be anger and bitterness, but he would never raise his voice. Despite all she had put him through, he promised to always remain by her side. Through the years, the memories faded, though they remained a special part of her that she could never erase. She would often stare up at the clouds and try to remember the sound of her voice or the touch of her hand, with the hope that they would one day meet again. Though their love for each other was strong, his love for her was stronger. It was a love that no words could ever define, one that would withstand all that was meant to destroy it; A love that would carry her farther than she could ever hope to dream.

It was on that night when she took her final breath, a warm gentle breeze blowing softly through the open window, that she finally received the peace that her heart so desperately longed for. He held her hand in gentle silence as a single tear fell upon the white pillow case where she rest her head; While across the city and comforted only by the same gentle breeze, another took her final breath. As she drifted away, a small piece of paper slowly fell from her hand landing effortlessly on the cold hardwood floor beside the bed. The promise they had made to one another so many years before still remained in faded blue ink... “I will always love you. Until we meet again.” With no one to pick it up, the breeze simply carried it away as did the night that brought them back together-