Forty years ago, I made a choice I’ve never stopped thinking about. My girlfriend and I were young and deeply in love, but her mother disapproved of me. It reached a breaking point—either we left together, or we lost each other forever.
Our plan was set. She would tell her parents in the morning that she was leaving, and I was to pick her up at 9:00 a.m. But as the night wore on, doubts crept in. Taking her away meant cutting her off from her family—her mother, her father, her whole history. I loved her too much to let that happen, even if it meant losing her. So, I didn’t go. I left her behind.
We broke up soon after.
It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I told myself I was doing the right thing, but in truth, I wasn’t sure. And now, after all these years, she’s reached out. She asked me the question I’ve asked myself a thousand times: Why didn’t you come?
What do I say? That I was scared? That I didn’t want to be the reason she lost her family? That I thought I was doing the noble thing, even though it broke both our hearts?
We are older now, and our lives are shaped by loss, time, and choices. Maybe, after all these years, we can find an answer together. Or maybe this is just another moment that will pass, leaving us with nothing but memories and what-ifs.
Would she have thanked me for taking her? Or has she spent a lifetime wondering why I didn’t?
Discover more from Michael Forman – Author of Dark Fiction & Drama
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