My dying wife asked me to find my first love as her final wish — when I learned why, my knees nearly gave out.

My wife, Carol, and I had been married for thirty-six years when the doctor told us that her cancer had already spread and there was nothing more they could do.

During the final week of her life, I barely left her bedside at the hospital.

One evening, she squeezed my hand and whispered:

“You have to promise me something.”

I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said:

“Anything, my love.”

Then Carol sighed and said:

“Find Anna, please.

You’ll understand everything once you find her.

And please…

forgive me in advance.”

When I tried to get some kind of explanation from Carol about why I needed to find Anna and what exactly she was asking me to forgive her for, the doctors asked me to step out of her room because she needed to rest.

The thing was, Anna had been my first love.

We were both around 20 back then and attended college together.

I loved her deeply and even proposed to her, but…

she turned me down because I had to move to another state for work.

That was how we ended things.

The last thing I ever expected was for my dying wife to bring up my former girlfriend.

A woman I hadn’t heard from or seen in nearly 40 years.

Over the next few days, Carol got worse.

Three days later, she passed.

My heart was broken.

I had no idea how I was supposed to keep living without Carol.

I missed her terribly.

But over the next few weeks, I couldn’t get her words out of my head.

Why had she asked me to find Anna?

Still, it had been my wife’s final wish, and I’d promised her I would do it.

I had absolutely no idea why Carol wanted this, but I kept my promise.

After searching through countless Facebook groups and making phone call after phone call, I finally found Anna.

She lived in another city about four hours away from me.

And one weekend morning, I drove there.

I found Anna’s house and sat in my car for a long time, wondering what on earth I was doing there.

Finally, I gathered my courage and knocked on the door.

I recognized Anna immediately.

Her hair was gray, and she had wrinkles just like I did, but it was unmistakably her.

I said hello and explained everything about Carol.

Anna greeted me and offered her condolences.

Then she took a breath and said:

“Yes, I think I know why your wife told you to find me.

Many years ago, I came looking for you, but Carol was the one who met me.

There’s something you don’t know.

I guess her conscience finally caught up with her.

Come in.

You’d better sit down.”

—

What did Carol do all those years ago — and what secret has Anna been carrying ever since?

Comment **”NEXT”** if you want Part 2.

Chapter 2: The Envelope With My Name On It

I followed Anna inside and sat down at her kitchen table.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

She poured two cups of coffee, set one in front of me, and didn’t say anything for a long moment.

Then she looked at me and said:

“When I came to find you all those years ago, Carol answered the door.

She told me you had already moved on.

That you were engaged to someone else and didn’t want any contact.”

I stared at her.

“That’s not true,” I said.

“I never said that.

I never stopped thinking about you.”

Anna nodded slowly, like she had already made her peace with it long ago.

“I know that now,” she said quietly.

“But I believed her.

I had no reason not to.”

My chest felt hollow.

Thirty-six years.

Carol had known.

She had looked me in the eye every single day and never said a word.

“There’s more,” Anna said.

She stood up and walked to a drawer in the hallway.

When she came back, she was holding an old envelope.

She placed it on the table between us and said:

“She sent me this.

About six months after I came to your door.

I’ve kept it ever since.

I never knew whether to contact you or just let it go.”

I looked down at the envelope.

The handwriting on the front was Carol’s.

My name was on it.