Final Chapter?

Several weeks ago my husband went to Wisconsin to see his younger sister who was terminally ill. He wanted to see her before she passed to the church triumphant. He did accomplish his goal. He was in Wisconsin for ten days.

I have debated for a couple of weeks as to whether I should even blog about the incident that I am going to describe. I came to the conclusion that those followers who know me would be interested in this most strange chapter of my life's odyssey.

A few days after my husband left I got a message through Facebook from a woman who I really do not know well, although I have know of her since I was a child. She asked a series of questions including: "Are you the Rachael who dated my brother?" "Are you the girl who went to Puerto Rico for my younger brother's funeral?" The answer to both questions is "Yes.
To answer your curious stares, my male friend, who died in 1998 was her brother. Her younger brother was murdered on a beach in Columbia in the early eighties. He was a drug mule and got caught smuggling drugs. My dad had connections with the State Department and got his body our of Columbia with some small effort. Gratitude is a powerful emotion. I went to Puerto Rico for the funeral because I was asked to. That was the last time I had seen this woman.
I suggested she call me and we could probably get together at the earliest possible moment. I was wrought with anxiety. Why in the world did she have the need to contact me at this late date?
The next day she arrived at my house and we set forth to reminisce about the "good ole days". Old days yes, and through the fog of time, we only remember the good part. She left Mexico ten years ago and has lived in Sarasota, Florida ever since.
It still amazes me how her family and mine have followed one another from pillar to post. Well, it seems that way. Mostly my family following hers from here to there and somehow we all end up in Florida. Inadvertent coincidence. Her dad retired and died here, 5 miles from where I live now. Her older brother lived in Citrus county and died there, 40 miles north of where I live now. She is in Sarasota, under 100 miles south of me. My dad had a winter home in Sarasota and his wife died there while on a winter hiatus. That is stuff novels are made of....

I, at this point, am dying of curiosity as to why she had sought me out. However, she does not seem to anxious to divulge her purpose for initiating this visit.
We decide to go out for lunch.... Loading me and my wheelchair in her car we set off to a local restaurant. We get seated and order drinks and she tells me that someone is meeting us in a few minutes. Before I can say "Who?" a very familiar figure walks in the door. He is tall, handsome, trimmer than I remember with white hair and extraordinary blue eyes. Description of my stunned reaction at seeing him left me wordless. I stuttered, stammered, and generally made a fool of myself. Word salad would best describe my utterances. I do remember mumbling something about him being dead already.
The answer, gang, is Federal Witness Protection. I cannot explain the circumstances mainly because I was not privy to them. The upshot is he is free of those ties after 15 years.
We talked and talked and then talked some more. He never remarried, that was just a ploy to get me to move on. (It worked, buster!) "Why did you not take me with you?" He could only take a woman he was married to...(You blew it, again, buster.)

I don't know if I accept that rationale, considering our history. However, I am not about to argue the point.
To think, I had a forty year relationship with this man and then I thought he had died. I mourned this man with all my heart. I fervently missed this person.
I now find myself, married to a sweetheart of a man and relatively happy. I will continue my life as is. I know old loves never die, they fade into the recesses of time fog. My dear friend, I wish you love, peace and good luck. Is this the final chapter?