Forever, Interrupted(52)

“Oh,” he says, quite surprised. “That’s heartbreaking to hear. It is interesting, like I asked, but just terrible. I didn’t realize you were married.”

“You met him,” I say. “A few months ago.”

“No, I remember. I just didn’t realize you were married.”

“Oh, well, we had only just married when he died.”

“Terrible,” he says, and he grabs my hand. It’s too intimate to feel comfortable, and yet, it doesn’t feel inappropriate. “I’m sorry, Elsie. You must be in such pain.”

I shrug and then wish I could take it back. I shouldn’t shrug about Ben. “Yes,” I admit. “I am.”

“Is that why you were gone for a while before?” he says, and my face must change. It must convey some sort of surprise because he adds, “You’re my favorite person here and I’m here every day. You think I don’t notice when my favorite person isn’t around?”

I smile and bite into my sandwich.

“I don’t know you very well, Elsie,” he says. “But I do know this: You are a fighter. You’ve got chutzpah. Moxie. Whatever it is.”

“Thank you, Mr. Callahan.” He gives me a disapproving glance. “George,” I correct myself. “Thank you, George.”

“No thanks needed. It’s what I see. And you will be okay, you know that? I know you probably don’t think it now, but I’m telling you, one day you’ll look back on this time and think, Thank God it’s over, but I got through it. I’m telling you.”

I look doubtful. I know I do because I can feel the doubt on my face. I can feel the way it turns down the corners of my mouth.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” he asks, picking up his sandwich for the first time.

I smile. “No, I’m not sure I do, George. I’m not even sure I want that.”

“You’re so young, Elsie! I’m eighty-six years old. I was born before the Depression. Can you even imagine that? Because I’ll tell you, during the Depression nobody could imagine me still living now. But look at me! I’m still kicking! I’m sitting here with a gorgeous young lady, having a sandwich. Things happen in your life that you can’t possibly imagine. But time goes on and time changes you and the times change and the next thing you know, you’re smack in the middle of a life you never saw coming.”

“Well, maybe.”

“No, not maybe.” His voice gets stern. He’s not angry, just firm. “I’m going to tell you something no one who is still alive knows. Well, except my wife, but she knows everything.”

“Okay,” I say. I am done with my sandwich and he has barely started his. I am usually the one done last, but I now realize that’s because I am rarely the one listening.

“I fought in World War Two. Suited up right in the beginning of 1945. Toughest time of my life. Honest to God. It just wreaked havoc with my faith in God, my faith in humanity. Everything. I’m not a man fit for war. It doesn’t sit well with me. And the only thing that got me through was Esther Morris. I loved her the minute I saw her. We were eighteen years old, I saw her sitting with her friends on the sidewalk across the street, and I just knew. I knew she would be the mother of my children. I walked across the street, I introduced myself, I asked her out, and six months later we were engaged. By the time I found myself in Europe, I thought for sure I wasn’t going to stay long. And I was right, because I was only there for about eight months before I was shot.”

“Wow,” I say.

“I was shot three times. Twice in the shoulder. One grazed my side. I remember being in that medical tent, the nurse hovering over me, the doctor rushing to my side. I was the happiest man on earth. Because I knew they’d have to send me home and I’d see Esther. I couldn’t believe my luck that I could go home to her. So I recovered as fast as I could and I came back. But when I got home, Esther was gone. No sign of her.”

He sighs, but it seems more a sigh of old age than one of heartbreak.

“I still don’t know where she went. She just up and left me. Never told me why. I heard rumors from time to time that she’d taken up with a salesman, but I don’t know if that’s true. I never saw her again.”

“Oh God,” I say, now grabbing George’s hand. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said. “I waited around for years for her to come back. I wouldn’t leave the town we lived in, just in case she came lookin’ for me. I was devastated.”

“Well, sure,” I say.

“But you know what?”

“Hmm?”

“I took each day as it came, and it led me to Lorraine. And Lorraine is the love of my life. Esther is a story I tell young women in libraries, but Lorraine makes me feel like I could conquer the world. Like the universe was made for me to live in it. The minute I met her, she just set my world on fire. I forgot about Esther just as fast as she forgot about me, once I met Lorraine.”

“I don’t want Ben to be a story I tell young women in libraries though. He was more than that. That’s what I’m afraid of! I’m afraid that’s what he’ll end up,” I say.

George nods. “I know. I know. You don’t have to do it exactly like I did. I’m just trying to tell you that your life will be very long with zigzags you can’t imagine. You won’t realize just how young you are until you aren’t that young anymore. But I’m here to tell you, Elsie. Your life has just begun. When I lost Esther, I thought my life was over. I was twenty. I had no idea what was in store for me. Neither do you.”