The Story - today

I too, have wondered what has happened to these people:

 Grace hadn’t reached for the Teddy Bear in a long time. He had been a gift, along with a “easy” wine bottle opener. The colleague had recognized what she would need as she faced the divorce.

The Teddy had instantly been given the name Dexter, his horn-rimmed glasses and bow tie and vest, left room for no other consideration. Then that horrible TV show came out, Dexter the Murderer; blood, slashing, knives, weird, weird, weird. She had gently placed the Bear on a shelf in her cupboard. He was at this time, Nameless.

She and Grace became friends.Through the spring and summer and now at the tail end of the year, they coffee-d and attended continuing education classes, dropped in to free events at the local library and talked.

In spite of the seventeen years between them (years that conceivably create a whole grown up person), they enjoyed eachother’s company. Their lives started to mesh, the painful void that each had been feeling, started to ebb. (It was a consistent but not overwhelming friendship. Days and sometimes weeks went by, when neither made contact. But when a plan was made, it stuck, it was sacred.)

Her sadness was replaced with optimism and the light became so much brighter at the end of the tunnel.

She made dinner once in awhile for Ollie. She tried out new recipes and bought a new slow cooker. Last time it was, Cranberry Chickpea Curry . Ollie appreciated her attempts and ate it all. He always brought flowers and dark chocolate with nuts for dessert. He had now permanently removed the bad-fitting toupée.