For fifty-five years, Eleanor had carried the same unanswered question in her heart: What had really happened to Thomas, the young man she had promised to wait for?
They had met in college, long before their names became separated by distance, war, and time. They were both broke, both full of plans, and both convinced that their lives were only beginning. Thomas studied engineering, while Eleanor spent her days immersed in literature. They shared cheap coffee, long walks, and conversations about a future that seemed impossibly far away.
By their final year, their friends had stopped asking whether they would marry. Everyone assumed it was only a matter of time.
Then Thomas decided to become a military pilot.
The evening before he left for Vietnam, they sat together beneath a tree near campus. Neither wanted to talk about the departure waiting for them in the morning.
Continue reading on next page…