**—My father survived. His ID was delayed for years. By the time his records were corrected, his mother had died and his old address was carrying nowhere. **
**Benjamin had lived. **
**While I spent decades lamenting a man who believed dead, he had been somewhere under the same sky. **
**—Where have you been? **
**Edward looked briefly at Wren. **
**Then he replied. **
**—My father suffered a serious head injury during the war. He damaged his memory, and the dementia later worsened him. **
**—Did you forget me? **
**—Forgot most of his life before the injury. **
**A short laugh escaped from me, although nothing at the time was funny. **
**Edward placed several documents next to the box. **
**—How did you find me? **
**—The photograph and a page of an old yearbook led me to an article about his volunteer work,” Edward explained. **
**Wren sat in front of me. **
**—After confirming your documents, I told you about your annual visit to the willow. **
**My eyes turned to the carnations. **
**It was Benjamin's eightieth birthday. **
**People often wondered if I regretted not getting married or having children. **
**The answer was always the same. **
**I had never stopped loving Benjamin. **
**We met in high school and spent countless afternoons under the willow dreaming of the future we would share. **
**The recruitment letter came in. **
**The night before he left, we were under that tree until dawn. He held my hands shaking. **
** “No matter what,” he said, “I’ll be home with you. **
**A year later, his mother came to my door in tears. Benjamin had been reported missing in combat. **
**Months later, the army declared him dead. **
**I never married anyone else. **
**Instead, I poured all the love I still had in other people’s lives. I volunteered with sick children and spent every Thursday reading to those who needed more kindness than conversation. **
**He never replaced Benjamin. **
**But it gave my pain a significant place to live. **
**Every year, I would return to the willow wearing fresh red carnations. **
**—Why today?” I asked. **
**—Because my father asked me to find her. **
**My fingers tightened around Nina's napkin. **
**Edward nodded. **
**—Last month, I moved him to a permanent care facility. I found the locked box in one of its drawers. When he saw her, he was excited. You had a lucid moment, ma'am. **
**—Did you know what was inside? **
**—Not everything. His memories return in fragments, but he said, “Belle must have the box.” **
