My Two Best Friends and I Promised to Reunite on Christmas After 30 Years – Instead of One of the Guys, a Woman Our Age Showed Up and Left Us Speechless

I remembered the lake, the music, the jokes, and the way it felt to belong to something once.

I just didn’t know if I belonged to it still. Thank you for loving me in the ways you knew how.

You were the brothers I always wanted.

I loved you both. I always did.

— Rick.”

My hands trembled as I passed the letter to Ted.

For a while, neither of us said anything.

He read it slowly, then again. When he finally spoke, his voice was tight.

“He did, hon,” Jennifer said. “He just said it in his death.”

Later that evening, we drove to Rick’s childhood home.

Jennifer had told us it would be sold soon. The house was dark, windows hollow.

We sat on the front steps, knees brushing, the cold creeping up our backs. Ted reached into his coat and pulled out the small cassette player Jennifer had given us.

Rick’s voice filtered through the static, softer than I remembered, but still his.

“If you’re hearing this, then I didn’t break the pact…

I just needed help keeping it. Don’t turn this into regret. Turn it into memory.

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