Later that week, I brought it up with Anna while we washed our dinner dishes in my kitchen.
“Do you think I’m being foolish, sweetheart?” I asked. “Trying again, I mean?”
My daughter dried her hands and looked at me like she was choosing her words carefully.
“Not at all,” she said. “You’ve spent years putting everyone else first. Dad. Me. My kids… But who’s been looking after you?”
I didn’t have an answer.
“You deserve joy, Mom,” she said, placing a damp hand over mine. “You deserve to laugh again, to have date nights, and be adored again. Love doesn’t come with an expiration date. So… I want you to choose this. Choose yourself and enjoy the life you have ahead.”
Her words stayed with me for a long time.
And then, one quiet afternoon, Henry asked me to marry him. We were sitting on a blanket under an old oak tree by the pond.
“We’ve both lost so much,” Henry said, looking at me. “Maybe it’s time we started gaining again. Together, Marlene, what do you say?”
I said yes.
