A collaborative effort in creative writing. |
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September 2005 Collaboration Beth Werner The One That Got Away By Beth Werner I'm a lousy storyteller. As I've gotten older my imagination limits itself to dreams. This isn't a story but... I met a gentleman during my sophomore year of high school. He was a nice looking guy who approached me during our mutual class because of the book I was reading. He asked if I'd read the other two and the friendship took off from there. We hung out all summer(he lived within walking distance) and went to movies and just pal'ed around. I nursed him through a heartbreak and he gave me time to get over mine. We were those rarest of people who loved each other enough that even when we weren't dating each other we were still friends. As frequently happens with high school chums we lost track of each other after we graduated, but as faith would have it. We caught up with each other ever few years and found that we were still best friends. I got involved with a gentleman in '96 and ended up pregnant. A week after finding out I miscarried. I was very down and sad about it. As fate would have it, my best friend called me at my apartment after getting the number from my mother. He came over and we talked and he sympathized with what I went through. He then told me about his daughter. She was two years old and just a sweet looking child. He told me her name was Brin Marie, a name I helped him come up with during our Child Development course together. Brin was the character from the book I had been reading when he introduced himself to me and Marie was my grand aunt's name. I was stunned and please because that made me an "aunt". We didn't lose contact with each other again. In July, I got pregnant again. The father and I had to part ways for awhile and my best friend stepped in to help keep me together. I made it through Christmas and New Years and was just depressed about the whole scene. I went back to college with a renewed determination to complete some type of degree even while working full time. In March, I started to have contractions, I was only 28 weeks along. It was stressful and scary, but he was right there with me telling me not to worry that he would take care of me. The father heard about this and we decided to try to make things work between us. He worked on trying to get out of the commitment that he had made to his family up north so that he could get back to me and the baby in Florida. On April 27th, I went into labor for real this time. My best friend had given me a pager number to use if I went into labor. I was just to put in "911" and he would hop into the car and meet me at the hospital. My best friend met me and my family at the hospital and he was there until just before the baby was born. He had another family emergency to go take care of and by that time, I was in no frame of mind to say anything. Labor is tough work. He told me he'd come by in a few weeks to see me and left. I never saw him again nor did he see the baby he had so diligently taken care of. He went to work every day then came to my house at night to take care of me since I was on strict bed rest after the preterm labor. He cooked,did laundry and waited on me hand and foot. He was truly amazing. He died June 13,1997 from a broken neck that he sustained while in the throes of a grand mal seizure. He was 22 years old. Looking back I wish I had realized how rare an individual he was and had made some move to stop him from leaving that day. I am sorry that I let him and his kindness get away forever. Please remember to give the author feedback. |