TWENTY AND FOREVER

The first meet up

I've given up on having a family, my wife passed away when i was my 20's and i haven't look at another woman since. I'm 87 now, she was my everything and the family i pictured had her in it. without her there was never a reason to love again, but if I were given a chance to go back in time, I will love her 20 times more than i did before, in another time, we will have our family.

My name is Benedicto Cuizon, though everyone calls me Beny. At 87 years old, I reside alone in Villagonzalo Tejero. Living alone can be boring, but it is never lonely; my neighbors keep me company, and my nephews visit me often.

As a retired cardiologist, I spent my life caring for people's hearts, healing them from their ailments. Yet, in a twist of irony, I now find myself barely surviving the pain caused by my own past.

I was having my morning coffee, embracing the sunshine while the annoying sounds of construction echoed from the house next door. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

"Uncle Benny... You there...? This is Mike..."

Mike was my nephew, the son of my younger brother Philip.

"Oh, hello Mike... Come in! How have you been?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Benny," Mike said with a smile.

"So, what brings you here today?" I asked.

"I'm just passing by... By the way, Uncle, Father wants to know if you've decided to come live with us yet. He doesn't want you to be lonely here," Mike said.

"Tell your father for the hundredth time, I don't need to move anywhere. I'm fine here. This place... it's everything to me. Since I lost Emily, my life has felt so lost, but this house still holds her memory. I can't afford to lose that," I said, my voice heavy with emotion.

The walls of this old house, worn and weathered, still whispered her name in the quiet of the night. Every corner, every creak of the floorboards, held a piece of her. To leave would be to abandon the last fragments of a love that time could never erode.

As I sipped my coffee, my nephew's eyes wandered to a faded photograph on the wall. He pointed to it and asked, "Who's that beautiful lady in your picture, Uncle?"

"She... She's my everything, the love of my life. She was my wife," I replied, my voice tinged with both joy and sorrow.

"I didn't know you had a wife, Uncle. Where is she now?" Mike asked, his curiosity innocent and sincere.

I took a deep breath, the memories flooding back with each word. "Unfortunately, time took her from me far too early. She was gone before we could grow old together. But those fleeting moments we shared felt like an eternity. Every day with her was a treasure, filled with laughter, dreams, and love. We used to talk about the future, about the family we would build, the children we would raise. But fate had other plans, and she was taken from me long before her time."

I paused, feeling the familiar ache in my chest. "Her absence left a void that could never be filled. I stopped dreaming of a family without her because she was the heart of every dream. If I could turn back time, I'd love her even more fiercely, cherish every second, and hold her a little tighter. In another time, another life, perhaps we would have had our family, and I wouldn't be sitting here alone, holding on to her memory."

Mike's eyes softened, and he reached out to pat my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Uncle Benny. She must have been an incredible woman."

"She was," I said, a small smile forming despite the tears that threatened to fall. "She was the most incredible woman I've ever known."

"What was her name?" Mike asked gently.

"She was Emily. Her full name was Emilia Cristina Cuizon," I replied, my voice softening with the memory.