Resurrected

Have you ever done something that you’d give anything to take back? Bruce did. And back-paddling to try to justify his actions occupied a lot of his time. Choices had consequences, and looking back, he wondered if what he lost was greater than what he gained.

In college, Bruce made a choice that changed him forever. It wasn’t something you could see by looking at him, but it lived inside, at home where all those dirty little secrets were buried. Every day since, he struggled to dull his remorse and free himself from the bondage of his past. He was damaged, broken. It was his brain storm, the thoughts about what he’d done, that kept him stuck and prevented him from living fully. On the brink of suicide, he met his neighbor, Anna.

At a time when he needed it, Anna threw him a lifeline. She had friends. Her mastermind group was composed of, among others, a psychic, a medium, and a shaman. Though skeptical, Bruce allowed the brain stormers to provide unique insight that gently nudged him in a new direction. With their guidance, he rediscovered a life worth living.

Bruce became the Michelangelo of wood. He could look at a piece of wood and see the sculpture inside it. He often wondered whether it was the masterpiece crying out for expression, or something in him screaming to be released. Either way, it had become a fulfilling line of work.

When Anna died, Bruce was devastated. And then came Bella, her granddaughter and heir. From the start, they made discoveries that coaxed them out of their comfort zones and into uncharted waters. They became a matched set. Not long after, he summoned the courage to tell Bella his 30-year-old secret.

Bruce and Ivy made a pact of silence. Neither wanted their families to know about the pregnancy. The shame it brought to them both, was punishment enough. They weren’t in love, didn’t want to get married, and weren’t ready to be parents.

Being raised Catholic, neither wanted to abort the child, so they agreed to adoption. At birth, the baby was taken immediately, without them seeing or knowing anything. And that was supposed to be the end. They went their separate ways.

Their vow of silence made it impossible to work through the feelings and consequences of their actions. Bruce never married or had a family. Ivy married and had children, but felt that her marriage was built upon a lie, or, at the very least, a half-truth. Neither could live fully with their unanswered questions and regrets.

A closed adoption made it impossible to legally get information about their child, but he never stopped trying. Bruce eventually found out they’d had a baby girl who died a few months later from complications of a birth defect.  The sadness and remorse he’d suffered through the years was nothing compared to the grief that became his companion when he learned the truth.

Then, out of the blue, Bruce got a message.

“Y...