The Park Bench

A man of 37 years sits on a park bench. It is a mild fall day in November and the park is full of activity. Children play on a small playground that is offset by a large green field lined by trees. Several people take a stroll on the walking trail outlining the field. Couples are picnicking on the field and a man throws a frisbee for his golden retriever dog. The park is simply full of life today. The young man is not at the park to enjoy it himself, but rather to watch the enjoyment of others for he is distraught.

A young lady of similar age notices the man on the park bench. His face is long and his head dips slightly down. His forearms are resting on his thighs. The expression on his face is solemn and it is clear that he is in despair. She decides to take a seat beside him on the park bench.

She sits beside the man and stares straight ahead in awkward silence, briefly and periodically taking a glance at the man. She is nervously building up the courage to speak to him. He notices her as well, but tries not to stare, He wonders why this lovely lady chose to sit beside him. “Maybe she just needed a rest and the other park benches are already occupied”, he thought to himself and he chose to ignore her.

The lady finally builds up the courage and turns her head towards the man. She says, “Hello.” The man whose head was slightly dipped suddenly sits up straight. He turns his head towards the lady and returns the greeting. The lady introduces herself, “My name is Janeese, Janeese Crawford.” as she extends her right hand to invite a handshake. He replies in kind, “Brian, Brian Walker.” He extends his left hand across his body and gently grabs her hand and they share a brief shake.

“Why are you so sad”, she asks. She continues, “If you don't mind me asking. I don’t mean to pry into your personal business, but I am a counselor and it is kind of in my nature to want to help.” He half smiles at her “I don’t think I need counseling sessions, but thanks for offering.” She apologizes to him, “I’m sorry, I am not trying to sell you a counseling session, but don’t hold it inside. At least talk to someone, even if it is just a friend or relative.” He replies, “Thank you for the advice, but my lunch break is over and I have to go.” She asks him, “Will you be here at the park bench again tomorrow, at this time?”. “Yes”, he answers. “May I join you?” she asks. “He replies, “Sure.”

The following day she sits on the park bench and patiently awaits his arrival, to which he does. He takes a seat beside her on the bench and greets her, “Hello again.” She smiles and returns the greeting, “Hello Brian, I thought that I might have scared you off yesterday?” “No, it’s ok,” he replied. She begins to examine him, “So, did you talk to someone last night, friend, family member, girlfriend? I noticed that you don’t have a wedding ring.” He answers, “No, I have no close friends. I’m an only child, my father abandoned us when I was young, and my mother died 4 yrs ago. I divorced a year later. No girlfriend. Pretty sad huh.”

“You are a handsome man, Why no girlfriend?” she asks with curiosity. He answered, “My divorce devastated me. I tried to date afterward, but I found it all to be so fake and superficial.”

She continues her examination, “Your divorce; what happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” “No, I don’t mind,” he replied. “She cheated on me and left me for another man who could give her more than I could. I thought she loved me. The worst thing is that I thought I loved her, but I was wrong.” She sighs, “I’m sorry to hear that. I am divorced too. His name was Michael Crawford. I met him in college. He was kind of a big man on campus and belonged to a popular fraternity. I was in a popular sorority. We met at a party. He took a liking to me and social forces and peer pressures kind of pushed us together. He was controlling and abusive, but I married him anyway so as not to disappoint everyone who thought that we were the perfect couple. Pretty stupid, huh? I finally left him.” she further explained, “It took me years of therapy and counseling to learn to move on. It helped and I decided to become a therapist and counselor myself.”

With a soft tone, she asks him, “Have you ever been in love, I mean true love?” “Once, Janeese '', he replied. “We both were seventeen. We truly loved each other. Nothing or no one around mattered to us, but each other. We were truly inseparable.” She smiled, “What was her name?” he replied, “Caitlyn Smith. We dated for a year then she moved to another state which is pretty much a death sentence to a relationship when you are seventeen.”

He turned to her on the park bench and smiled in a blushing manner, “Janeese, may I tell you something? It is silly, but remember that we were seventeen.” “Sure”, she replied. He continued, “The day before Caitlyn was set to move, we made a pact. In 20 years we would find each other. If we were both single, we would rekindle our romance. Silly, huh.” I don’t think it is silly at all, but rather romantic.” she replied with a blushing smile herself.

His smile leaves his face and he sighs, “This is the 20th year and it is almost over.” She asks him with concern, “Have you tried to find her?” “Yes!” he answered, “A few times, but with no success.” “Is this why you despair?” She asked him. “Yes, mostly, and among other things,” he responds. She places her index finger to her mouth and crinkles her eyebrows as though she is thinking, “Brian, You seem to have regret for not finding her. May I help you find her?” He looks at her rather blankly, “Janeese, I don’t know if finding her now is what I should do. What if she is happy? Would I just disrupt that?” She pulls out her business card and writes her personal phone number on the back, “Here is my number. Please call me if you decide that you do.” “I will,” he responds.

That evening at his house, he makes himself a cocktail and reminisces. He pulls off the bookshelf of his old HS yearbook from when he dated Caitlyn. He scrolled through the “S'' section of the index until he found Caitlyn’s name. He notated the page and photo row numbers in his mind and flipped to the corresponding page in the yearbook. He finds her picture and is taken back in his mind to that period when he was most happy. He closes the yearbook and immediately calls Janeese whose contact number he stored in his phone. She answers, “Brian, is this you?” “Yes,” he replied. He continued, “I have decided that I want your help. I want to find her!” “Ok Brian.” she responds, “Meet me at the park bench again tomorrow, same time.”

The following day she sits on the park bench and patiently awaits. She spots him walking towards her. She stands up to greet him. They are soon standing before each other. The silence is broken when she asks, “Brian, are you ready to go find her?” He responds in a soft tone, “I just did. Hello Caitlyn. I missed you.” Her eyes water and she smiles. He explains, “When we were together, I recall that you had never told me your full name. I only knew you as Caitlyn Smith, but they printed it in the HS yearbook, ‘Caitlyn Janeese Smith’. Why didn't you just tell me two days ago on the park bench?” She took his hands,” The pact was for us to find each other. I found you. I needed you to find me.”.