I FOUND TINY CHILDREN’S SHOES ON MY LATE HUSBAND’S GRAVE EVERY TIME I VISITED.

Maya’s eyes widened in surprising. “You’d want that? After everything?”

“He’s a part of Paul, and maybe, in a way, that means he’s a part of me too.”

Maya smiled through her tears, and in that moment, the shoes stopped being a painful reminder of betrayal. Instead, they became a bridge to a life I never expected.

After meeting, I no longer dreaded my visits to Paul’s grave. The shoes, once haunting, became symbols of love, connection, and new beginnings.