Letting go of my possessions wasn’t easy. But I wasn’t just selling things—I was shedding an old version of myself. I bought a one-way ticket to Elizabeth’s town, driven by the hope that love could bloom again, even late in life.

As the plane lifted into the evening sky, I imagined her smile, her voice. But midway through the flight, a sharp pain gripped my chest. Darkness crept in. A flight attendant’s concerned voice was the last thing I heard before everything faded.

Between the past and the future, between love and the unknown—I had taken the leap. And in that moment, my heart, however fragile, was finally open.