When We Were 19, My Best Friend and I Promised That If We Were Both Single at 60, We’d Find Each Other – I Turned 60 Last Tuesday, and My Old Landline Rang

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The hospital room was at the end of the hall. I stood outside it with my hand on the door, trying to understand how I’d gotten there. Forty-one years.

That’s how long it had been since I’d seen Jeffrey.

I stood outside it with my hand on the door.

Forty-one years since his last letter and since he’d asked me not to contact him again.

And now his son, Peter, stood beside me, saying, “He’s been asking if you’re here yet.”

I looked at him.

Peter had Jeffrey’s eyes.

“Is he awake?”

“He’s been trying to stay awake for you.”

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That almost made me turn around.

Peter had Jeffrey’s eyes.

I was 60
Then, 40 minutes earlier, my childhood landline had rung. Now I was about to see him again.

I pushed open the door. Jeffrey lay in the hospital bed. He was thinner than the boy I remembered. His hair had gone white. His face had changed.

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