We were going to small restaurants.
We bought food in the market.
I taught her to play chess, and she taught me to send videos with the phone without accidentally calling my whole family every time.
At first, my kids were surprised.
Especially Sarah.
But one day he took me aside.
“Dad, I never saw you like this when you were with Lauren.
“As well as?
“Quiet.
He was right.
Next to Lauren was always trying to look younger.
Next to Emily was just George.
In me birthdays Number seventy-five we organized a small family dinner.
When everyone left, Emily stayed.
I took her to the terrace.
He had a small ring in his pocket.
I didn’t even kneel. My knees had retired from that kind of heroics a long time ago.
I just took his hand.
“Emily, I can’t promise you fifty years.
His eyes filled with tears.
I know.
I can’t even promise you twenty.
She squeezed my hand.
“George, no one can promise another person tomorrow.
I looked at her.
“Then the time we have… do you want to spend it with me?”
He smiled in tears.
“Yes.
We got married three months later.
Not in a great hotel.
Not in front of hundreds of guests.
In the courtyard of my house.
Sarah was next to Emily.
Mike helped me put my tie on.
Emily’s mother was sitting in the front row, already recovered.
When Emily walked towards me, she didn’t wear a model dress or try to attract all eyes.
She wore a simple white dress.
And to me I was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
This time I didn’t get married because I was afraid to be alone.
Nor because having a young woman by my side made me feel younger.
I married a woman I never needed to pretend to be someone I wasn’t.
