I Fell in Love with a Woman Who Had One Flaw and When I Found Out What It Was, My World Turned Upside Down — Story of the Day
Three years after losing my wife Emma in a car crash, my best friend Mike set me up on a blind date I didn’t want. Life had been a gray Missouri winter—endless, empty. I survived; she didn’t. Guilt nailed me: if only I’d driven slower.
At the diner, Mike insisted: “Three years is enough. Meet Claire—a vet, kind, lost someone too. Just coffee.”
Claire was shy, warm, with a musical laugh. Over pie, she revealed a chest scar: heart transplant, three years ago, same month Emma died. I bolted, heart pounding. Coincidence? Emma was an organ donor; her heart went in-state.
Mike warned me not to chase ghosts, but I needed proof. At the hospital, a lost letter from Emma surfaced: “Don’t let your heart stop. If it learns to love again, let it. Love just changes its address.”
A month later, I called Claire. We met by the crash site, planted a sapling Emma always wanted. Claire touched her chest: “This heart knew you before. It’s starting to love you again.”
I took her hand. Under the gray sky, we gave it a reason to keep beating—two lives rooted in loss, blooming anew.
