An elderly woman hastily requests for a divorce from her husband after five decades of marriage. After a while, she receives a letter that says something she has not heard in 50 years.
Rose had had enough. She was a 75-year-old woman who had been married to the same man, Charles, for more than 50 years.
Charles was ten years older than her, but they had been together since their college days which meant they spent their youth in love with each other. Everyone believed they would never separate, and neither did they.
The two had raised two beautiful kids who had gone on to make families of their own. However, despite the fullness of their marital life, Rose felt suffocated. She thought she had not been allowed to live her life to the fullest, and those feelings manifested in her behavior towards Charles.
He loved her to a fault, always watching out for her, so he got confused when she started to pick fights and throw tantrums. He could tell she was closing her heart towards him, so he decided to speak to her about it in hopes that they could bury the hatchet. That day he walked in on her muttering to herself.
“What’s the matter honey?” he asked. “You’re talking to yourself again.”
“And it’s all thanks to you, Charles,” she snapped. “You’re slowly driving me insane.”
“Come now Rose, don’t say things like that to me, they break my heart.”
“You’re always playing the victim,” Rose shot back before she stormed out of the room, leaving him to decipher what she meant.
The quarrels became so frequent that when Rose eventually requested a divorce, Charles decided not to stop her. They were both advanced in age, and the emotional turmoil was not good for them.
When they informed their lawyer, Mr. Frank Evans, about their plan, he tried to advise them against it because he thought they were really great together.
However, Rose would not budge on her decision, and Charles didn’t want to be the reason his Rose would lose her life, so he went along with the divorce.
On the day they signed the papers, Frank offered them both a meal at their favorite restaurant. “What could it hurt?” he said.
Rose was a little reluctant, but Charles agreed immediately.
“We wouldn’t mind, Frank,” he said. “We’re parting ways amicably, this could be our last supper.”
Rose eventually agreed, and they headed to the restaurant. Upon getting there, Frank ordered his meal and informed the elderly couple that he would pay for their food as well.
When the waiter arrived to take their orders, Charles immediately took charge. He requested that the light around their booth be dimmed because of his ex-wife and ordered a salad for her while he got steak.
Rose seethed inwardly; she could not believe Charles had gone ahead to order her food like she was not present and could not make decisions herself. Other people around their booth complained of the dim lights, which made her even angrier.
She was a shy woman, and she did not take kindly to being the center of attention. But in her anger, she lashed out at Charles and left him and Frank staring after her retreating form.
“Women, am I right?,” Frank said with a knowing look.
“Tell me about it,” Charles replied, a sad smile on his face.
When he returned home, the house was devoid of Rose, and many of her belongings were gone. It broke his heart, mainly because he had no idea exactly what had caused the change in her.
That night, they both slept fitfully. Charles gave up on sleep later and decided he would pen his former wife a letter in his last-ditch attempt to save their relationship.
He put all his emotions in the letter, and he cried as he wrote it because he knew life would not be the same without his precious Rose.
When morning came, he realized he did not know where she went and so he could not send the letter. He left it on the mantelpiece and caught sight of some pills Rose was supposed to take every day because of her medical condition.
She had forgotten it, but he knew she would need it, so he picked up his phone to call her. She refused to pick up his calls, thinking he wanted to pester her to return to him.
We had spent decades together and raised kids but he hardly knows me, she thought to herself as the phone rang. All he does is try to control me and I’m done with that, now I’ll live and do the things I want with my freedom.
Charles was overcome with bitterness as the calls went unanswered. That, coupled with fear for her life, was too much for his weak heart, and he started feeling symptoms of a heart attack.
He quickly dialed for an ambulance, but he blacked out before it arrived. The police notified Frank, so he called Rose to let her know.
When she heard the news, her heart stuttered. Her Charles was down in the hospital? She could not bear the thought of losing him, and it made her realize how much she still loved him.
She went to their house to pick up some things to deliver to him, and she found the letter. Her heart broke as she read it.
“Dear Rose,” it began. “First I’d like you to know I’ve loved you all these years and I’ll love you till I leave this earth. I don’t know why you’ve decided to close your heart to me but I wish you would open it again because I can’t imagine a world where we’re apart.”
Rose started to cry as she kept reading.
“I’m sorry about what happened at the restaurant. I was only trying to look out for you as I’ve always done. I know you hate the glare of bright lights because they hurt your eyes so I asked that they be dimmed. I’m also well aware of your health issues which is why I ordered you salad. I’m sorry for taking such liberties and I promise to do better if you return to me.”
The rest of the letter made Rose realise just how wrong she had been and right there she decided to be a better wife to her husband.
She fled to the hospital where she was reunited with him and begged to nullify the divorce. She was suddenly aware of how attentive he was to her and decided she would return the favor every day until she could no longer draw breath.
What did we learn from this story?
- Don’t ignore a loved one because you’ll regret it if you lose them. Rose ignored Charles’ call because she was mad at him, but she realized how much she would miss him when she came close to losing him.
- Avoid making decisions when emotions are high. Rose decided she wanted a divorce while she was angry with Charles, and it started the sequence of events that almost cost him his life. Thankfully, he lived long enough for her to realize her mistake and rectify it.
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