A Best Friend

Jack and Amie were such a lovely couple, most were jealous of what they had together and the front that they put on. They were married 25 years and had their share of ups and downs as most couples do, but they got through it. They had no children together, they had just a dog in the past in which helped them meet.

25 years earlier Jack and his brown lab Cocoa went for a stroll on a beach on a beautiful hot summer day in August. The same day that little Amie was relaxing on the beach reading her summer novels from her bucket list. Just as any romance novel would reveal Cocoa stumbled on Amie while catching a freebie in his mouth and caused a sandy mess and beautiful introduction. The rest would be history.

They met and fell in love, dated each other exclusively and learned about each other daily. They were two peas in a pod for several years before taking the steps to welcome each to their families, everyone stated how perfect they were for each other, and how well matched. Jack proposed to Amie at the beach, same spot where they met and he had trained Cocoa to bring the ring to her after “falling to his knees” in the sand. It was a beautiful exchange over sunset. They had a glamorous small wedding celebrated with family and friends and began their life together.  

Before long they decided to start a family together. They were excited and preplanned the nursery and how they were going to raise them. They were trying for almost a year until they started seeing a specialist as there was concern that they weren’t conceiving. The amount of stress and anxiety it caused between the two of them was concerning, and never did they think they wouldn’t be able to have their family that they had dreamed off. Sadly, Doctors and Nurses all confirmed that with the test results, it showed that Aimee was not able to have children. Medical examiners explained different tests they could do and they're different options of having children. Thankfully with the money they had they were able to spend a small fortune on everything they could do to make it happen. After three years Amie finally turned to Jack, “Jack, I just can’t do this anymore.” And that dream was then sailed away in tears of hopelessness.

The two went traveling after their horrible news and tried to enjoy their lives. They toured Europe and the Islands, experiencing different foods and how people lived. They had lost Cacao in the years, and without any children to worry about, they wanted to absorb as much adventure as they could. When they finally came back home and stated living their lives again the silence grew in the household. Jack worked in advertising and through himself in daily paperwork and meetings, where Aime was a interior decorator who worked from her home office, where she would bring clients in for consultations and then spend days shopping on their dime to create their rooms of their dreams. Jack started coming home later, and having more meetings over the weekends and the two of them didn’t have much time together anymore. They both had resentment towards each other for not being able to fulfill their dreams, now they didn’t bother to have a relationship anymore. One evening Jack waited at home with two glasses of red waiting for Aimee. When she arrived home tired from shopping she kicked off her white heels and saw him standing there with disappointment on his face.  

They started a conversation with a new bottle of wine and ended the conversation with aggravation and yelling. Lots of blame toward each other and soon they're were two bottles, one empty and the other just about, almost as irony on their lives. Aimee turned to Jack, “Jack, I just can’t do this anymore.” They both decided to walk away from their marriage, with not much to divide as they were both well off in their careers. They would never see each other again.

Aimee found solace and moved into a beautiful cottage out in the woods, as far from society as she could. She started writing novels and found peace with her creativity. She continued to be successful. Her and Jack and let their connection go and she never heard from him again, last she had heard he had moved into the big city and opened his own advertising firm in which he was very successful and well known.  When she did go out to town for her necessities she saw his advertisements and they always put a smile on her face, as far as she knew he never remarried, nor did she.

Within time Aimee grew older, the grey hair set in and the wrinkles around her eyes and cheekbones. She started to become aware that she couldn’t do her everyday things such as hold a pen or walk up and down the steps. After seeing a doctor they had told her that she was sick, she had found out she had cancer. She was alone, didn’t have anyone to share the news with. The medical team set her up with services to help her around the house and medications to try to help the pain go away, the doctor also knew who she was and expressed a love for her stories. He gave her six months to live, the best life she could under the circumstances. 

She went home by taxi and very slowly made herself a cup of peppermint tea and sat down at her kitchen table. Was this it? This is my life? How could this be? I had the perfect life, a fantastic husband and loving home. Great career. How does it end like this?  

As the days wore on, she got weaker and weaker. Personal support workers came in and helped her bath and get up and walk around, some even tried to help her write and paint more. But Aimee was loosing her confidence and want to live. Within last few days of life she had a visitor come to her door. Jack was contacted by the doctor who had last seen Aimee knowing it was her ex husband, also knowing it was all she had. Jack had aged well, very handsome clearly successful man. Dressed well and still had the same smile he had when they met many years ago.

Jack sat next to Amie on her bed after the personal support worker brought him in. “Amie look who came to see you”. “Jack?, is that you”, he approached slowly and held her hand and kissed her forehead. “Amie If I had known you were this ill I would have come sooner, you never called, or wrote.” Jack kept holding her hand as Amie struggled more and more to take her breathes. “Jack, I just can’t do this anymore.” With that, Aimee breathed her last breathe and fell asleep for her last time. Jack’s tears strung down his eyes, he laid crying on her chest.