Thirty-seven strangers ate together.
By dessert, they weren’t strangers anymore.
That was when I understood what Second Life really was.
It wasn’t just Mary Lou’s second life.
It was mine too.
For years, I had thought my story after widowhood was simply to survive.
Raise my daughter.
Work.
Retire.
Grow old quietly.
Then at sixty-three, I got on an airplane alone.
And somehow, that single decision gave both of us another beginning.
About a year after the restaurant opened, Kang Jun came through the door.
I recognized him immediately.
He looked older.
So did all of us.
Mary Lou froze behind the counter.
I started toward her.
She shook her head gently.
“It’s okay.”
They sat at a table near the back.
I couldn’t hear everything.
I didn’t try.
They talked for nearly an hour.
Neither raised a voice.
At one point, Kang Jun wiped his eyes.
Later, Mary Lou did too.
When he stood to leave, they hugged.
Then he walked out.
Mary Lou remained sitting.
I brought her coffee.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“Yeah.”
“What did he want?”
“To apologize.”
“For what?”
“Some things.”
She looked toward the door.
“I apologized too.”
I sat across from her.
“Do you regret marrying him?”
Mary Lou thought for a moment.
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Really?”
“He was part of my life.”
She smiled sadly.
“Not everything has to be a mistake just because it ends.”
I reached across the table.
