And I explained to him the strange final request he had made to me.
Susan’s expression changed the instant she heard Linda’s name.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he took a deep breath.
“I think I know why he asked you to look for me.
My heart began to beat strongly.
“What do you mean?
Susan looked me straight in the eye.
“Many years ago, I went to get you.
I was paralyzed.
What?
She continued.
I went to your house. But you weren’t.
He paused.
“Linda was.
I felt a frosty wave going through my whole body.
Susan opened the door more.
“Robert… there’s something you don’t know. And I think Linda waited almost forty years before finally gathering the courage to tell you.
He stepped aside.
“Go in. You better feel.
I entered the house, without yet having the slightest idea that, in the following minutes, everything I thought I knew about my past was about to change.
The continuation of this unusual story is in the first comment 
Susan took me to the living room and pointed to a chair.
Sit down, Robert.
The way he uttered my name made my stomach shrink.
He disappeared in another room and returned carrying a small wooden box.
It looked old.
The corners were worn and the brass broom had darkened over the years.
Susan placed her on the table between us.
“I’ve kept this for almost forty years.
I stared at the box.
What is it?
Instead of answering, he opened it.
Inside were several cards tied up with a faded ribbon.
My name was written on every envelope.
My hands were freezing.
I took the first one.
The lyrics were Susan’s.
The date was just a few months after I had moved.
I looked up at her.
I never got this.
“I know,” he said quietly.
I opened the letter.
The first line almost made my heart stop.
Robert, I made a terrible mistake. I should have gone with you.
I kept reading.
Susan had written that she missed me.
Which I regretted rejecting my marriage proposal.
That I had finished the semester and was ready to move.
I had written that if I still loved her, I wanted to start again.
