The next morning curiosity finally won.
After Richie left for work and the girls went to school, I grabbed a shovel and walked next door.
The apple tree stood near the fence where it always had, its branches crooked with age.
I pushed the shovel into the ground.
The soil was soft.
After a few minutes the blade hit something hard.
A dull metallic sound echoed through the quiet yard.
My heart started racing.
I knelt down and brushed away the dirt until the edge of a small metal box appeared.
It was rusty and heavy.
Old.
I pulled it out of the ground and wiped away the mud.
For a moment I just stared at it.
Then I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Old ones.
At the top was a picture of a young man in a hospital room holding a newborn baby.
When I looked closer, my breath caught.
Because the baby in his arms…
was me.
Under the photograph was a hospital bracelet with my name on it.
And another letter.
My hands shook as I opened it.
“My darling Tanya,
If you’ve found this box, it means I never had the courage to tell you the truth while I was alive.
I am your father.
When you were born, your mother’s family pushed me out of your life. They believed I would only bring trouble.
Years later I found out where you lived. I moved next door so I could at least watch you grow up.
I saw you become a mother. I saw your children playing in the yard.
I was always proud of you.
I just didn’t want to appear in your life too late and cause you pain.
Everything I own now belongs to you.
I hope this truth finally sets you free.
Love always,
Dad.”
I sat there under the apple tree for a long time.
For thirty-eight years I believed my father had disappeared before I was born.
But the quiet man who lived next door…
had been watching over my life the entire time.
Richie found me there later that morning.
When I showed him the letters, he wrapped his arms around me.
“We’ll figure this out,” he said softly.
That afternoon I called my mother.
When she arrived and read the letters, the truth finally came out.
She had been nineteen when I was born.
Her parents forced her to choose.
Keep the baby.
Or keep the father.
So she chose me.
