\n\n\n\nBut, of course, that was the time my daughter decided to have a heart-to-heart in the kitchen. She lived two hours away, but she occasionally came home for the weekend \u2014 just for us to catch up and spend time together.\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom,\u201d she said, bringing in the final dirty dishes from the table. \u201cYou know I\u2019ve been seeing someone new?\u201d\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes!\u201d I said. \u201cWhat about him?\u201d\n\n\n\n
I always wanted to know what was going on in Susan\u2019s life \u2014 but she was very tight-lipped about her romantic life. My daughter was twenty-four and still believed that oversharing with her mother wasn\u2019t cool.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA person washing dishes | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
So, whenever she wanted to talk \u2014 I was all ears.\n\n\n\n
Except, this time, I wasn\u2019t expecting the conversation to take such a turn.\n\n\n\n
\u201cJack,\u201d she said, reminding me of his name. \u201cHe\u2019s pretty quirky, you know. But I guess I see it like that because of the age difference, maybe.\u201d\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA smiling young woman | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
My daughter was always dating people who were slightly older than her. I couldn\u2019t figure it out, just that it was entertaining to navigate her mind when she let me into it. I knew that I would step in if she needed me to.\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was just thinking about this strange habit that he picked up. He only eats the top of muffin because he says that it\u2019s the best part. Like there\u2019s something different about the top versus the bottom. Can you believe that?\u201d she giggled.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA muffin and a brown paper bag | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
The plate I was washing fell from my hands and broke into pieces. Shards flew off the sink and landed on the floor.\n\n\n\n
I was dumbfounded.\n\n\n\n
Names are common, sure. But are strange habits common too?\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom, what happened?\u201d Susan asked. \u201cAre you okay?\u201d\n\n\n\n
She picked up the dustpan and began to sweep the remnants of the plate into it.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA broken plate on the floor | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, darling,\u201d I said, feeling winded. \u201cI just got a bit light-headed there.\u201d\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe you should take a nap,\u201d Susan said. \u201cI\u2019ll finish up here.\u201d\n\n\n\n
I went to my room and lay on the bed. Hearing about Susan\u2019s boyfriend\u2019s habit had thrown me back in time, catapulting me back to those tender years of my late teens and early 20s.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nAn unmade bed | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
I was instantly reminded of Jack \u2014 my Jack \u2014 the one love that had profoundly etched itself upon my heart. His kindness, intelligence, and that peculiar muffin habit had been the center of my life for years.\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy do you eat muffins like that?\u201d I asked Jack once.\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause the top is always a little crisp and the inside is soft. And when you get deeper into it, it just starts to taste weird. And the textures get all muddled.\u201d\n\n\n\n
His explanation made absolutely no sense to me \u2014 but it made him happy.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA happy young couple | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
But then, along came life. Jack went off to study abroad \u2014 he had a desire to learn. While I remained anchored in our hometown, taking care of my ailing father. I didn\u2019t have any regrets.\n\n\n\n
Not really.\n\n\n\n
Although, I did wonder what would have happened if Jack had asked me to travel with him. Would I have gone? Would we have remained together, or would life have found a way to separate us after all?\n\n\n\n
The years that followed were a long and grueling testament to moving on \u2014 or at least, an attempt at it.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nAn airplane in the sky | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
I met Phil while I was at college. I married him, brought Susan into the world, and eventually faced the heartache of divorce, realizing the love I held for my husband was but a pale shadow compared to what I had felt for Jack.\n\n\n\n
\u201cElizabeth! You cannot still be hung up on Jack,\u201d my best friend, Catherine, said when I told her that my marriage just wasn\u2019t working.\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, Cath,\u201d I said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve tried to make it work with Phil. It\u2019s ridiculously difficult trying to make a relationship work when both parties are not in it.\u201d\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, you think that your only chance would be to find Jack?\u201d she asked.\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cI\u2019m not looking. I\u2019m going to focus on Susan.\u201d\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTwo women sitting together | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
And I did. My daughter became the most important aspect of my life. Phil and I got divorced, but we continued to co-parent the best we could. And even during those years \u2014 I only looked Jack up on Facebook three times. But there were never really any updates of note.\n\n\n\n
Just mentions of places he had been to.\n\n\n\n
I continued to keep my child at the center of my world. Even now, Susan and her happiness came first.\n\n\n\n
Yet, as she had told me \u2014 unveiling her boyfriend\u2019s name and his eccentric muffin habit, my world once again spiraled into chaos.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA laptop opened to Facebook | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat if he\u2019s my Jack?\u201d I said to my empty room.\n\n\n\n
Susan had mentioned that her boyfriend was older \u2014 but how much older? Jack and I were the same age. Surely my child couldn\u2019t be dating someone old enough to be her father.\n\n\n\n
The thought was ridiculous. But still, it felt as though something had come undone inside me.\n\n\n\n
I fell asleep that evening not knowing how to navigate the situation. I could be reasonable and ask Susan about it straight out. I could ask her to show me a photo of Jack \u2014 that would immediately confirm who he was.\n\n\n\n
But then, on the other hand, if I had to see his face next to my daughter\u2019s, I didn\u2019t know what that would do to me.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA person sleeping in bed | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
The following morning, things went back to normal. Susan went back to her apartment and I was left to wonder about her and the mysterious Jack.\n\n\n\n
I channeled all my feelings into my garden.\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the healthiest thing you can do,\u201d I told myself as I continued to plant new seedlings.\n\n\n\n
I knew that I could have reached out to Catherine. But the thought of her snickering at me still holding some kind of torch for Jack would just be too much to deal with.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA person holding a seedling | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
In the ensuing months, Susan would only speak about Jack when she called. He had become a beacon of light in her life, and she had fallen in love.\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different, Mom,\u201d she gushed. \u201cIt\u2019s real and I think Jack is going to propose. I\u2019m sorry that you haven\u2019t had a chance to meet him yet.\u201d\n\n\n\n
She wasn\u2019t wrong. Every time my child wanted to bring Jack over or have us meet someplace, I would always cancel.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA young woman holding a phone | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
I knew that I was being a horrible mother \u2014 it was easy. I just had to ask Susan for a photograph. But because I didn\u2019t ask, she didn\u2019t share.\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom,\u201d she said the day after he proposed. \u201cPlease let me know when you\u2019re free. We\u2019ll come to you.\u201d\n\n\n\n
She had sent a photo of her ring, and it was beautiful. But Jack wasn\u2019t in sight.\n\n\n\n
And still, I refused to give her a time. I just felt that if I didn\u2019t know any details \u2014 I would be in the clear. And besides, Phil had met with Jack and Susan. If there was anything I needed to know, he would have told me.\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom,\u201d Susan said, her voice low and tired. \u201cDo you want to help plan this wedding or not?\u201d she asked.\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I can,\u201d I admitted to her.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA photo of an engagement ring | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs this about the divorce? Is it too much for you?\u201d she asked, her voice laced with concern.\n\n\n\n
That was it. That was my way out.\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, honey,\u201d I mumbled. \u201cI think it\u2019s just a sore spot for me. But I\u2019ll be there.\u201d\n\n\n\n
The day of the wedding arrived like a storm I\u2019d seen coming from miles away yet still hoped to somehow evade. My heart was a cacophony of emotions as I prepared myself to finally meet the man my daughter was about to marry.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA wedding venue | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
The man who, until now, I feared could shatter the precarious peace I had managed to build around my heart.\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood afternoon, Mrs. Davis,\u201d the young man at the altar greeted me, his voice warm yet unfamiliar. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to finally meet you. I\u2019m so glad you could come!\u201d\n\n\n\n
Relief washed over me momentarily, easing the tightness in my chest. This wasn\u2019t my Jack. This was someone new, someone important to my Susan. But the calm was short-lived.\n\n\n\n
Then, the true Jack emerged, his presence as jarring as it was unexpected. \u201cElizabeth!\u201d he exclaimed, his voice a mix of surprise and joy.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA young man wearing a suit | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh my God! Are you Susan\u2019s mother? My boy is so lucky to marry her! I had no idea it was you.\u201d\n\n\n\n
In that instant, a flood of emotions overwhelmed me. Years of what-ifs, of memories suppressed, came rushing back. But there was no room for them here, not today.\n\n\n\n
Today was about Susan, about her happiness and her future.\n\n\n\n
Jack and I managed to find a moment for a quiet conversation amidst the festivities. He shared the outline of his life since we\u2019d parted\u2014so strikingly similar to my own.\n\n\n\n
Married, then divorced, with children who meant the world to him. It was oddly comforting to know that our lives, though parallel, had been filled with love, even if it wasn\u2019t the love we had once shared.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA smiling older man | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
As the ceremony began and I watched my daughter walk down the aisle, a sense of peace settled over me. Susan was radiant, and the love in her eyes as she looked at her Jack was all I needed to see to know that everything was as it should be.\n\n\n\n
Later, as Jack handed me a glass of champagne and said, \u201cI came back for you,\u201d I realized that some chapters of our lives remain open, not for us to return to, but to remind us of how far we\u2019ve come.\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout two years after I left,\u201d he continued, seeing my puzzled look. \u201cBut nobody knew where you had gone.\u201d\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy father passed on,\u201d I replied softly, a part of me healing with the acknowledgment. \u201cAfter that, I needed to move. I came here, and settled down.\u201d\n\n\n\n
Jack\u2019s smile was gentle, his eyes conveying a world of emotions. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said, and I knew he meant for everything\u2014the pain, the separation, and the years lost.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTwo glasses of champagne | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n
As Susan called me to dance, I realized this wasn\u2019t just a celebration of her new beginning but also a healing moment for me. Dancing with my daughter, I felt the weight of the past lift, leaving behind a sense of gratitude for the present and hope for the future.\n\n\n\n
Today was not about lost loves or what could have been. It was about family, about bridges built from the pieces of our pasts, and about the unwavering strength of a mother\u2019s love.\n\n\n\n
As I looked around the room\u2014at Susan, at Jack, and at all the faces filled with joy\u2014I knew that everything had led us to this moment, and it was exactly where we were meant to be.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA bridal couple dancing at wedding reception | Source: Pexels\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"