A woman turns down her ex-lover’s invitation to meet him 53 years after they broke up, but when she comes across some of his old letters, she reconsiders her decision and visits him – only to find his house in shambles.
76-year-old Bessie Walsh had always been a joyful, vibrant woman, but after losing her better half Edward to cancer three years ago, she was reduced to a forlorn and dejected soul.
Bessie and Edward had been happily married for 45 years, had two lovely daughters, and had a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood. But when Edward left her for his heavenly abode, the cheerful woman was left heartbroken and alone.
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Bessie’s daughters, Stephanie and Cassandra, were both married and settled abroad, so the only company she had in her later years were her children’s photo albums and memories when they were young. As a result, she rummaged through her storeroom every evening to find all the old albums and sat for hours looking through them.
One evening, she was looking for one of their family albums when she found a stack of envelopes buried in a corner beneath an old crate. She dusted them off to have a better look at them when one of the envelopes fell to the floor, revealing a letter.
She brought everything into the living room and put on her glasses to read them, but as soon as she opened the first letter, her heart began to race.
“Hi Bessie,
This is Troy. I’m so sorry, Bess. Look, I understand you’re upset with me, but please give me a chance to explain myself. What you saw was not true, trust me. I have only loved you, and I won’t look at anyone the same way. Meet me today at the Red Rose Cafe at 5:00 p.m. I’m in your hometown. I’ll explain everything. I promise.
With love, Troy.”
No one could have predicted that the happy, constantly smiling Bessie would have a sad side too, but she did…
When she was 23, she was madly in love with Troy Evans, a young and attractive man. They’d met at university and fallen in love, and Troy had even proposed to her. Bessie had said yes without hesitation, and their wedding had already been planned. But then something happened one evening a week before the wedding that changed everything…
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Bessie was out with her friends at a restaurant when she noticed Troy. She initially assumed she had misidentified the man as Troy, but she knew it was him when she looked at him again. She was about to approach him and give him a back hug when a gorgeous brunette ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek. Then they held each other’s hands and walked away to a table together.
Bessie was shocked, to say the least. “Really, Troy? You’re cheating on me!” She sobbed her way out of the restaurant that day, swearing never to see him again. However, she left him a farewell letter, stating she was moving back to her hometown and that everything between them was over.
Troy wrote numerous letters to her after receiving her final letter, begging her to give him a chance to explain himself, but she didn’t bother to read any of them. Later, she married Edward after falling in love with him. She’d even forgotten she had Troy’s letters with her until a postman showed up on her doorstep one day. “You’ve got a letter, ma’am. Pretty fancy! No one does it these days!”
Bessie wondered who would send her a letter as her parents had died a long time ago, and her husband was an orphan with no living relatives. She had opened the letter out of curiosity, only to discover that it was written by Troy.
“Dear Bessie,
It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? It took me a long time to find you, but I did. I didn’t come to meet you because I don’t want to cause problems in your marriage. But I just want to see you once, Bess. You haven’t responded to any of my letters in all these years, but please give me one chance to explain myself. I’m living in Chicago, and you’ll find my address inside the envelope. Please, Bess, meet me once. I’m hoping you won’t decline my request this time.
With love,
Troy Evans. “
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It happened about a year after Edward’s death, and Bessie was still in grief, so she threw that letter and the others he’d sent later in the storeroom, never planning to read them. However, as she read one of his letters again this evening, she felt something – presumably a longing to be with someone or be loved – and moved on to the next one.
“Dear Bessie,
This is the last letter I’ll be writing you. I wrote to you so many times, and I really wanted to meet you, but I guess it won’t happen. So I’m writing this letter to explain why I kept telling you I didn’t cheat on you.
One of my friends had requested me to act as his sister’s boyfriend that day so that the boys who were stalking her wouldn’t bother her. Bess, it was all a joke. I wanted to tell you about it earlier, but you were at your grandparents’ house at the time, and when you got back, everything was messed up.
I’ve only loved you with all of my heart, and I’ve never even considered anyone else. I’m still single, and I’m hoping you’ll forgive me and come back to me. But if not, then I guess this is goodbye.
With love,
Troy Evans.”
Bessie’s eyes welled up as she finished reading. Troy had never been unfaithful to her. In truth, he had wanted to tell her everything, but she was too angry to think rationally. She couldn’t help but feel bad for the man who had honestly loved her his entire life. She rummaged through the letters in a frenzy to find the envelope with his address and decided to pay him a visit.
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However, when she arrived there, all she found was an old, decaying house with broken roofing and worn-out paint. She began inquiring with the neighbors about him, but nobody knew anything. Dejected, she had almost left the neighborhood when her gaze was drawn to a 95-year-old frail woman.
She’d been looking intently at her from the moment she’d arrived there. She felt there was something she knew and wanted to tell her, so she decided to approach her. “Excuse me, do you know anything about Troy Evans?” she gently asked.
The older woman didn’t utter a word and handed her a note. “Go to this address; he’ll be there. He left this place two years ago and never returned,” it said. Bessie realized the woman was mute, which is why she didn’t say anything.
“Thank you!” she whispered to the woman before heading to the address. An hour later, her search for Troy brought her to The Oliver Nursing Home, where she quickly spotted him. He was sitting immobile on a wheelchair in the outer yard, almost like a statue. His previously vibrant, sparkling eyes had a strange dead expression, and his face was dotted with wrinkles.
Bessie’s eyes welled up as she approached him. “Hi, Troy. How are you? It’s me, Bessie!”
The man slowly turned his wheelchair to face her, but he didn’t utter a word.
Bessie smiled at him, teary-eyed, and held his hand in hers. “I’m finally here, Troy. I’m sorry I ignored you all these years. Please forgive me,” she whispered gently.
Suddenly a voice interrupted her. “There’s no point in trying, ma’am. I’m afraid he won’t recognize you.”
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Bessie turned around and saw a woman in her late 50s standing there. She was Debbie, Troy’s caretaker at the nursing home. She informed her that Troy had suffered from memory loss due to the stroke and was unable to speak.
Bessie’s heart sank when she heard that. Now that she finally met Troy after all these years, he was in such a condition that he didn’t even recognize her! But she decided she won’t give up so soon.
She began visiting him often and told him their stories – how they’d met, showed him the letters too – in the hopes that he would recall something. It didn’t help much initially, but once, when she went to meet him, he cried terribly after reading one of the letters. He kept sobbing, and it was the first time he finally recognized Bessie and called her name! Even the nurses were stunned. It was indeed a miracle!
Bessie brought Troy home that day, and they are now living happily together. She is grateful she decided to go through those letters that evening.
What can we learn from this story?
- Don’t jump to conclusions. Bessie thought Troy had cheated on him without giving him a chance to clarify himself.
- What’s meant to be will be. Troy and Bessie were fated to end up together, and that’s what happened in the end.
Struggling Widowed Dad Acquires an Aged Stroller from a Flea Market, Detects a Crackling Noise When He Settles His Baby in It
A widowed father buys his newborn baby girl a second-hand stroller at the flea market and hears a strange crackling sound when he puts the baby in it. He inspects it and makes a heartbreaking discovery that changes their lives.
“This was our favorite spot by the window…All those sunsets when we kissed here! The way you used to blush when I whispered things, tucking your hair strands behind your ears,” Tyler, 30, cried near his bedroom window. Warm tears dropped on his late wife Kylie’s framed photo, haunting him with memories as he stared at the evening sky.
Tyler and Kylie led a happy marriage, and the next big thing happened in their lives when she fell pregnant. Tyler, a cashier in a grocery store, started dreaming of raising a beautiful family. Everything seemed like a beautiful portrait until a storm arrived and dropped a bomb in their nest the day Kylie went into labor…
Tyler could not hold back his tears as he recalled hearing their newborn baby girl Tiara’s loud cries from the maternity ward.–Advertisment–
“And then, they gave me my newborn baby to hold… How warm and soft her skin felt… When I asked about you, they showed you cloaked up to your forehead. Patting my shoulders, they said, ‘We’re sorry. We couldn’t save her.’ Why did you leave us, Kylie??”
Kylie had developed last-minute complications during labor and had died during childbirth, leaving Tyler with a mountainous responsibility on his shoulder.
Do not stop when a dark, difficult path arrives. Take one step at a time and keep going.
The sun disappeared behind the trees as an eerie darkness filled Tyler’s heart. He was lost in deep thought when suddenly, his six-month-old baby girl started crying.
“I’m coming… I’m coming, honey!” Tyler ran to fetch some warm milk. He had nobody to babysit Tiara, so he quit his job to tend to her day and night.
“Awwww…lo-lo-lo…” he fed his baby. Tiara wouldn’t sleep without Tyler cradling her in his arms. Sometimes, she would take over an hour to fall asleep, and Tyler had sore arms carrying her around for a long time.
“Where did I keep it?” Tyler began searching for a metal box where he saved money for petty expenses. Baby Tiara was asleep, so he was cautious not to wake her because once she was up, it would only mean Tyler would have another sleepless night.
“Ah, here it is!!” he exclaimed and opened the box, quickly counting the money. Tyler wanted to buy a stroller. “My arms will ache less and baby Tiara will be happy too!!”
The next day, Tyler went to the flea market in town to buy the baby buggy. Tiara was asleep in his arms, as Tyler walked up and down, cradling her to sleep.
He marched toward the store selling baby essentials and saw a woman with a stroller.
“Hey, miss…hey…hey…I love this stroller. I need one like this for my baby.”
Tyler saw a strange glow light up the woman’s eyes which appeared red, painful, and swollen. It looked as though she had spent several sleepless nights crying. Amanda looked at Tyler’s baby as tears rose in her eyes. She sighed heavily and said, “You can take this. I’ll give it to you for $10!!”
“Only for $10??!” Tyler exclaimed.
“Yes, I changed my mind after seeing your baby. You need this stroller more than I do now. You can take it!”
Tyler was surprised by the generous offer and quickly paid for the stroller. The woman took the money and immediately left, vanishing into the crowd and leaving Tyler puzzled but happy with the bargain.
“Ah, finally, sweetie, dad got you a new buggy. We will go home, clean it, and then you can rest in it, alright?!”
Tyler took the stroller home, unprepared for the discovery he was about to make.
He slightly dusted the stroller that looked too decent for its price. It was used but not worn out. He decided to take Tiara for a walk in her stroller and gently put her in, only to hear a strange crackling noise from under the padded seat. It sounded like a packet of chips getting crushed.
“What is that noise??” Tyler immediately withdrew his baby from the buggy and put her on the couch. He slightly lifted the padding and found a piece of folded paper.
“What is this?” he wondered as he unfolded it and saw a handwritten note addressed to a certain ‘Gigi.’
“To my beloved baby girl, Gigi. Darling, I miss you each minute, each second. Without you, my world has turned into a dark grave…” began the first line.
Tyler was stunned as he sat back near a fast-asleep Tiara and continued reading…
“Sweetie, please forgive mama. I know you’re with your daddy in heaven now. Please know that I will always love you. Please forgive me. I am forced to sell your stroller. Mama has nowhere to go, sweetheart. I love you and miss you, my baby. Love, Mama.”
Tyler’s heart almost skipped a beat when he realized this was a mother’s heartfelt confession to her dead child.
“What happened to her daughter? Who is this woman? Where is she now?” he wondered and set on a mission to find the bereaved mother, unaware of how fate would tie her to his life.
Tyler revisited the flea market the next day and returned to the store where he bought the stroller and inquired about the woman. Luckily, the CCTV footage in the store helped him track her down.
“Yeah, that’s her!” Tyler pointed to the screen.
“She came here to sell an old vintage clock. She told me it belonged to her late mother.”
“Do you know her house??”
“She told me her house is the last across the street.”
“Thanks, pal!!” Tyler said, hurrying to the woman’s house. There he saw the woman packing her things in a cloth bundle and an old suitcase.
“If you can’t pay your rent, you can’t stay here for free!” an older man yelled at her.
“Hey, miss, hey…you remember me? I bought a stroller from you yesterday, remember??” Tyler chimed in. “May I know your name?”
Moments of silence prevailed, and then she said, “My name is Amanda.”
“Amanda, hey, nice to meet you. I found your letter in the stroller,” Tyler added, and Amanda started to cry.
As it turned out, the baby buggy Amanda sold to Tyler was her only reminder of her dead child, who had lost her battle with cancer. Amanda was forced to sell it with the other old items in order to pay for her overdue rent.
“My daughter Gigi was five years old… She was too young and innocent… She didn’t know what cancer was. She was my only hope to live after I lost my husband,” Amanda cried.
The landlord kicked Amanda out because he wanted to lease the house for a higher price. Though Amanda got social security benefits, the money was drained, settling her late husband’s debts.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Amanda. Listen, I have an idea. Why don’t you come and stay at my house until you find a better place to stay?”
Tyler sympathized with Amanda and invited her to live in his house if she wanted. Though hesitant at first, Amanda could not resist the pleasure of spending time with Tyler’s baby girl.
Amanda moved into Tyler’s house and tended to his baby while he returned to work. She cared for little Tiara like a mother, and even the baby loved being around her.
As time flew by, Tyler moved on from his sorrow. He realized that his daughter needed the love and care of both parents and popped the question to Amanda one day. They had fallen in love by then.
Tyler and Amanda married shortly after. They understood that besides needing each other’s support, they could heal each other’s wounds this way.
What can we learn from this story?
When two broken hearts collide, they heal each other’s wounds. Tyler and Amanda were grieving strangers who needed true support to release them from their sorrows. Fate drew parallels between them, and they helped each other overcome their grief.
Do not stop when a dark, difficult path arrives. Take one step at a time and keep going. After losing his wife, Tyler quit his job to tend to his newborn baby. He was devastated but kept going for his baby’s sake.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
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