a passage

“There was a reason to it all,” she said.

“What reason?” he said.  “how could there be a reason? You died. You were forty-seven.  You were the best person any of us knew, and you died and you lost everything.  And i lost everything.  I lost the only woman I have ever loved.”

She took his hands.  “no you didn’t.  I was right here. And you loved me anyway.

“Lost love is still love, Eddie.  It takes a different form, that’s all.  You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hand or move them around a dance floor.  But when those sense weaken, another heightens.  Memory.  Memory becomes your partner.  You nurture it.  You hold it.  You dance with it.

“Life has to end,” she said. “love doesn’t.”

Eddie thought about the years after he buried his wife.  It was like looking over a fence.  He was aware of another kind of life out there, even as he knew he would never be a part of it.

“I never wanted anyone else,” he said quietly.

“I know,” she said.

“I was still in love with you.”

“I know.” She nodded.  “I felt it.”

“Here?” he asked.

“Even here,” she said smiling.  “That’s how strong lost love can be.”