My Husband Passed Away After 62 Years of Marriage – At His Funeral, a Girl Approached Me, Handed Me an Envelope, and Said, ‘He Asked Me to Give This to You on This Day’
She nodded without apparent embarrassment. “I rode behind the taxi. When I felt the key in the envelope, I couldn’t stop wondering what it opened. When Harold asked me to give you the envelope, he said it was the most important thing I’d ever do. He said I had to wait until that exact day.”
“I don’t understand. Who are you? How do you know my husband? What’s your mother’s name?” I pressed.
The girl stepped closer and peered at the box the way curious children look at things that fascinate them. “My mom’s name is Virginia. I’m Gini, by the way!”
“He said it was the most important thing I’d ever do.”
“Did she ever say who Harold was to her?”
Gini’s expression softened. “She called him the man who made sure we were okay. She said he had been very close to my grandma. But Mom never called Harold her father.”
If Harold wasn’t Virginia’s father, why had he carried her life for decades? The question sat in the middle of my chest, and I had to find out.
“Gini,” I urged, “can you take me to your mom?”
If Harold wasn’t Virginia’s father, why had he carried her life for decades?
The girl stared down at her shoes for a moment. “My dad left when I was little. My mom is in the hospital right now. I stay with my neighbor most of the time. That’s how I found out Harold had died. She showed me the obituary in the paper and told me when the funeral was.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“She needs heart surgery,” Gini said without self-pity. “But it costs too much.”
“I want to see your mother.”
We loaded Gini’s bicycle into the taxi trunk. On the way, she mentioned that Harold had given it to her not long before he died, and the thought of it caught me off guard. Then we drove to the hospital.
“My mom is in the hospital.”
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