His Wife
“Are you ready to sign your life away?” He joked as he slid the first of many forms over to me.
He shuffled through some of my paperwork for my new mortgage, including my W2s and paystubs and noted, “You work at Women’s Cancer Care Associates? What do you do there?”
“Uh Huh, I’m a nurse”. He paused and looked up at me, as if he needed more. “I give chemotherapy”. Silence followed. I could sense what was coming. My first day off in two weeks and I couldn't escape my job. Someone wanted to talk about cancer ..... shit. I just wanted to refinance my house.
“Do you know what your credit score is?” “Nope”, I replied. “Young lady (even though he wasn’t much older than I was), you should always know your credit score”.
So quietly, I barely heard him, he said, “My wife died of Breast Cancer on December 3, 2010”. His eyes filled. Without thinking I glanced at his left hand and saw that he still wore his wedding band. His eyes followed mine.
“OK I need your tax statements for the last two years” and then he paused looking down at his hand and his wedding ring. “I can’t even take my ring off yet. I still miss her every day.” I pushed the basket of napkins across the dining room table towards him. Again silence filled the room. “She was the love of my life.”
“This form….” He broke off unable to speak. “It’s giving me permission to……” His voice was rough with emotion and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. My facade crumbled as a single tear slowly slid down his face.
I finally broke the silence, “Tell me about her”.
“She never caught a break. The cancer kept coming back…..” I nodded and he continued on for several minutes until with one last big breath, he stopped, his pain mostly spent.
“Do you think she knew she was dying?” Again I nodded. “Most do. Was it peaceful?” I asked. He motioned yes. “She died in her sleep while I was holding her”.
“She was blessed to have you.”
A few minutes passed and he collected himself. “OK let’s finish this up.”
Thirty minutes later my mortgage application was complete and I walked him to the door. As he was leaving, he turned toward me and thanked me. I wanted to hug him and make it all better. But the moment had passed and the Mortgage Broker walked to his car, never looking back.
He shuffled through some of my paperwork for my new mortgage, including my W2s and paystubs and noted, “You work at Women’s Cancer Care Associates? What do you do there?”
“Uh Huh, I’m a nurse”. He paused and looked up at me, as if he needed more. “I give chemotherapy”. Silence followed. I could sense what was coming. My first day off in two weeks and I couldn't escape my job. Someone wanted to talk about cancer ..... shit. I just wanted to refinance my house.
“Do you know what your credit score is?” “Nope”, I replied. “Young lady (even though he wasn’t much older than I was), you should always know your credit score”.
So quietly, I barely heard him, he said, “My wife died of Breast Cancer on December 3, 2010”. His eyes filled. Without thinking I glanced at his left hand and saw that he still wore his wedding band. His eyes followed mine.
“OK I need your tax statements for the last two years” and then he paused looking down at his hand and his wedding ring. “I can’t even take my ring off yet. I still miss her every day.” I pushed the basket of napkins across the dining room table towards him. Again silence filled the room. “She was the love of my life.”
“This form….” He broke off unable to speak. “It’s giving me permission to……” His voice was rough with emotion and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. My facade crumbled as a single tear slowly slid down his face.
I finally broke the silence, “Tell me about her”.
“She never caught a break. The cancer kept coming back…..” I nodded and he continued on for several minutes until with one last big breath, he stopped, his pain mostly spent.
“Do you think she knew she was dying?” Again I nodded. “Most do. Was it peaceful?” I asked. He motioned yes. “She died in her sleep while I was holding her”.
“She was blessed to have you.”
A few minutes passed and he collected himself. “OK let’s finish this up.”
Thirty minutes later my mortgage application was complete and I walked him to the door. As he was leaving, he turned toward me and thanked me. I wanted to hug him and make it all better. But the moment had passed and the Mortgage Broker walked to his car, never looking back.
Beautiful piece, Anne. With an economy of words you've been able to capture an entire moment that passed between two people who don't know each other and yet understand each other very well. Great job!
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