Chapter 21
COLE
CodeBreaker
Tell me about your parents.
Well, this is quite unexpected. I don’t usually share details about my family with a practical stranger. Yet, on many levels, CodeBreaker feels oddly familiar.
Flyguy
Wow, we’re going there, are we?
CodeBreaker
I thought it was time.
Flyguy
What you’re really saying is you’re doing your due diligence to make sure I don’t come from a long line of serial killers?
CodeBreaker
You got me! C’mon, spill…
Flyguy
Some of it is not pretty.
CodeBreaker
As in?
Flyguy
Like my parents’ love story doesn’t exactly have the happy ending they were hoping for.
CodeBreaker
Neither did my parents, so we have yet another thing in common then.
Flyguy
Okay, are you ready?
CodeBreaker
I’m in bed, hot cocoa in hand, and my phone in the other. I’m ready for story time.
Flyguy
Okay, well, once upon a time, a young, beautiful girl (my mom) met a dashing boy (my dad) one day under a willow tree down by the lake at the back of her grandparents’ house on the outskirts of San Francisco.
CodeBreaker
I already like this story.
Flyguy
It’s one of my favorites.
CodeBreaker
How old were they when they met?
Flyguy
My dad was just fourteen at the time, and my mom was thirteen.
CodeBreaker
They were young then?
Flyguy
Yeah, and my mom always maintains that she just knew he was the one for her.
CodeBreaker
When you know, you know.
Flyguy
And she knew, and so did my dad. Every Sunday, they met at the same spot because her parents lived an hour away, but, like clockwork, they visited her grandparents each week.
Meanwhile, my dad’s parents lived just four houses down.
On the days they didn’t see each other they would spend hours on the phone together and exchange letters. This went on for years.
CodeBreaker
That’s so sweet.
Flyguy
She still has all the letters they wrote to each other.
CodeBreaker
Have you ever read any of them?
Flyguy
No, that would feel like an intrusion on their privacy. But the box full of love notes sits proudly on her dressing table and has been there for years, but neither my brothers nor I have ever touched it.
CodeBreaker
That’s very respectful. I’m guessing they fell in love under that weeping willow?
Flyguy
Instantly. My mom always maintains that she never kissed him until she turned seventeen, but I think she might have slightly bent the truth on that. She told me that the day he kissed her for the first time, he told her he was going to marry her as soon as he graduated college and she had too.
CodeBreaker
And did he propose?
Flyguy
Yeah. My mom applied to a college just an hour from his, and the rest is history.
They made it work, and true to his word, he asked my mom to marry him the day he graduated.
They went to San Francisco’s County Clerk’s office within City Hall two weeks later and got married without anyone knowing.
There was no big celebration because they always believed they loved each other and didn’t need to show it to others.
They rented a small one-bedroom apartment while my father continued his studies for another three years, working part-time jobs to make ends meet, and my mom worked very hard too.
CodeBreaker
Wow. They really loved each other.
Flyguy
They still do.
CodeBreaker
But I thought you said they didn’t get their happy-ever-after?
Flyguy
Maybe that was a stretch. Maybe I should have said that they did and they didn’t.
CodeBreaker
Explain.
Flyguy
Well, after years of hard graft, my father opened his own firm and worked his ass off to make it one of the best in the state.
My mom stopped working and raised my brothers and me.
She’s an incredible mom. She supported my dad and us every step of the way through every up and down, and then my dad got sick.
CodeBreaker
I’m so sorry.
Flyguy
Don’t be. They had a great life together, but when he was almost ready to retire and hand the business over to my brothers and me, he was diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s. His decline was quick, and he’s now in a facility that takes care of all his needs better than we can.
CodeBreaker
I might be crying. I so wanted a happy ending for them.
Flyguy
It’s taken me a few years to accept it. They had big plans as well.
They bought this beautiful ranch to spend their last years and had several vacations booked, traveling to places they’d always dreamed of visiting.
However, my dad lived on the ranch for only a few months; he didn’t get the retirement he deserved.
CodeBreaker
And your mom?
Flyguy
Is thriving. Fitter than ever. Turned the ranch into a business and keeps herself busy. Worryingly so.
CodeBreaker
It sounds to me like it’s more of a distraction for her than anything.
Flyguy
You’re right. She visits him almost every day but she’s lost without him. He was her everything.
CodeBreaker
He still is, by the sounds of it.
Flyguy
Yeah. But one day he’ll forget us all. Some days he doesn’t recognize me.
CodeBreaker
That must be so incredibly hard. I can’t even imagine what that must feel like.
Flyguy
My mom doesn’t deserve it and my heart really goes out to her.
CodeBreaker
I hate that you’re going through this. I’m here for you if you ever want to talk about it. Good days he has, or bad. I’m all ears.
Flyguy
Thank you, that means a lot. I’ve never shared that with someone on a dating app before.
CodeBreaker
I feel honored that you trusted me to share that with me.
Flyguy
I find you incredibly easy to talk to. Next, I’ll be telling you my name, address, and where I work.
CodeBreaker
Calm yourself, Flyguy… not yet.
Flyguy
Not until we unlock the deeper “getting to know each other” part.
CodeBreaker
Exactly. Please don’t ever forget that I am here for you, no matter what you need. Any time of the night, you reach out to me, yeah?
Flyguy
I will.
CodeBreaker
Can I ask one more thing?
Flyguy
Of course.
CodeBreaker
Have you and your brothers been tested for the dementia and Parkinson’s genes?
Flyguy
Yes, and none of us have them.
CodeBreaker
Well, you know what that means then, don’t you?
Flyguy
That I have nothing to worry about?
CodeBreaker
No. It means you can carry on his legacy and his memories for him. You can share your parents’ love story. Remind him of parts of it when you visit him, and when you have a family of your own, or nieces or nephews, you can tell them about the greatest love story that ever was.
I’m sure this is the moment CodeBreaker crept into my heart without me even noticing.
Yet, another name still lingers in my mind, refusing to fade. My thoughts keep drifting back to her because she holds a part of me and won’t let go.
Mina.