Regular Life

Regular readers no doubt read my post called Bob and Betty, back on January 31. I wrote a letter to them on February 8, and finally mailed it about a month later.

My wife and I both felt horrible for the way we left things with Bob and Betty. I said as much in the letter, and hoped that it would spark a long-distance reunion of sorts. We would send pictures of Ben; Bob and Betty would send back that he’s “growing so fast.”

In the back of my mind I dreaded one very real possibility — that my effort would be too late. Bob and Betty both had health problems.

This weekend, when I returned from seeing my death-defying grandfather, my wife showed me something that came in the mail.

It was my letter. On it was something I had almost expected — the US Postal Service’s stamp of a red hand pointing to the mailing address, accompanied by the message “Returned to Sender.” It also bore a handwritten message informing us, “Not at this address.” Oddly, a line ran through the words.

Above those words, in the same handwriting, was something I’d never seen before on an envelope. It was as if the recipient had changed his or her mind to offer some explanation.

“Deceased,” was all it said.

I looked at Shannon. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Isn’t that sad?” she asked.

“Yes, very.”

“I feel so bad that we just left without even saying goodbye to them,” she said.

We commiserated a few minutes about how remiss we were in our hasty departure. Bob and Betty, both so caring and generous, had no idea where we went. Hindsight made my original post sadly prophetic.

We do not know anything more. I suspect that the new address I found for them was some sort of retirement home with medical staff. Perhaps one of their caregivers received my letter, or a family member.

For reasons that may be selfish, I am determined to find out.

Comments RSS