Michael's dilemma

“How do you run this washing machine, Maria?” - Michael asked, screaming from the laundry room.

“I’m coming, darling, don’t touch!“- His wife called from the kitchen.

Michael stood up and heard the bell on the mailbox, a sign that the mail had arrived. He headed there and unwittingly pressed one of the buttons on the washing machine, which turned it to 100 degrees. He reached into the box and pulled out a single letter, yellow in color and sealed with wax on the front, the seal of Lovgard High School. Michael sighed, and the next moment he heard the screams of his wife, who was angry that he had turned on the washing machine at that temperature, unplugging the power cord and causing an electrical outage. She left the laundry room and headed for the front door, where Michael stood holding the letter.

“Who is it from?” - Maria asked, looking at him. - “It’s from high school, Mike. What year is it already? - Looking at the calendar, they both saw that twenty years had passed since Michael’s graduation.

Michael sighed again and they went to the living room, where they sat on the couch and he opened the letter. He looked at it and began to read:

“Dear Michael,

It’s Christian.

I am writing to you on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of graduation. We will gather with the rest of the class at the Kelten Sups restaurant, where we were ten years ago, tomorrow morning (10/10/2019) at 7 pm. We know how difficult it is for you to join us again, especially after that event in the ninety-ninth year, but we will be very happy if you decide to come!

Regards, classmates from Lovgard, Class of 1999.“

“Mike, it’s time to leave the past where it belongs. Don’t lose yourself for that day. All your classmates are waiting for you, turn your back on everything old and go see them.” - Maria stroked his back.

“I don’t know, Maria. I’m not sure I can do that. But I’ll think about it, I promise.” - He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

Michael went back to the bedroom and layed down on the bed. Thinking about that day, May 29, 1999, the day before they graduated. He and his best friend, Chad Baldwin, played basketball in the backyard of high school. The boys laughed and had fun all the time, and in the evening they would go to Michael’s, where Mrs. Diggory had prepared a delicious chicken soup. Michael and Chad were friends from childhood, they were together in kindergarten, school and high school. They would enroll in the same university where they would study to be doctors. They were even accepted, they just had to pass graduation and they would leave, they had plane tickets and ready accommodation.

On the way to Michael’s house, they were attacked by a gang of criminals to whom a classmate owed money. The problem was that none of them had any money or idea of ​​what was going on. They started beating them, but Michael managed to call the police and although he could not say a word from the phone, the shouts of the two boys could be heard. Their faces were covered in blood, and Chad couldn’t breathe from so many kicks in the stomach when police showed up with an ambulance. They were taken to the city hospital, where Chad died from his wounds.

Michael never showed up for graduation, and he hadn’t heard from anyone in his class since. He went to study at Stonebridge, where he met Maria, and five years later they were married. She was the only one who somehow reassured him, whatever the case. Three years later, they sent him a message that arrived at his mother’s home, and she passed it on to Mike. It said Marcus Brooks, his classmate who owed money to criminals, had died of poisoning. Two years later, it was the tenth anniversary of their graduation that Michael did not attend. He was still in pain from that day, the day he lost his closest person just before their university life began.

Maria entered the room, sat down next to him and placed her hand on his scalp.

“How are you?” - She asked softly.

“I feel good, thank you. I think I know what to do.“

“Whatever you decide, I’ll be by your side, as will Ryan and Sylvia.” - She said, mentioning the names of their son and daughter.

“You are everything to me, darling. I couldn’t be more thankful to God for meeting me with you.“

The next day it was six o’clock when Michael came home from work. Yes, he succeeded and became a doctor, one of the best neurosurgeons in the country. At home, his wife was waiting for him, she had made chicken soup, and the children greeted him with hugs and kisses. He went with them to the kitchen, where he kissed his wife and went to sit at the table, but she would not let him.

“You’re not eating soup today. Your suit is waiting for you in the bedroom, get dressed and hurry to Kelten Sups!” - She said kindly.

He smiled and headed for the bedroom.

When he put on his suit, he looked in the mirror and smiled at himself. He then said goodbye to his family and took a taxi to the restaurant. Entering, all eyes were on him, and for the next few minutes all his classmates embraced him.

In life we will always lose someone or something. This is the very cycle from which we cannot escape, even if we live in sorrow for years. Surviving the loss does not mean that the pain disappears or that we forget, on the contrary, we just learn to live with them. These things will always be in ourselves and should not disappear, but that does not mean that we should stop living for them.

Don’t lose yourself because of an event in the past, no matter how painful it may be. The past is over, the future is unknown, live in the present without thinking about what has been or what will be.