My husband begged me never to step inside his garage. I trusted him enough not to ask why. But the day I opened that door, I discovered something that made me doubt 60 years of marriage and left me trembling with a truth I wasn’t ready to face.
My name is Rosemary.
I’m 78, and I’ve been married to Henry for almost 60 years.
We met in high school. Sat next to each other in chemistry class because our last names were alphabetically close. He made me laugh.
We worked at the same factory after graduation.
Got married at 20. Had four children. Seven grandchildren.
One great-grandchild.
Every Sunday, we had barbecues in the backyard. Every night before bed, he said, “I love you, Rosie.”
He still does.
He knows how I take my tea. He notices when I’m quiet.
He brushes crumbs off my sweater without making a fuss.
People used to say we were inseparable. That we were lucky to have found each other so young. I agreed with them.
Henry had just one crazy rule.
One request he repeated for years:
“Please don’t go into my garage.”
The garage was Henry’s world. Late at night, I’d hear old jazz drifting from his radio, the scent of turpentine slipping beneath the door.
Sometimes the door was locked. He spent hours in there.
Once, I joked, “Got another woman in there?”
He laughed.
“Just my mess, Rosie. Trust me, you don’t want to see it.”
I didn’t push.
In 60 years of marriage, I’d learned that everyone deserves their own space.
But then, something felt off.
I’d catch him staring at me. Not in a romantic way. Like he was afraid of something.
One afternoon, Henry was getting ready to go to the market and forgot his gloves on the kitchen table.
Assuming he was still in the garage, I went down to give them to him.
The door was slightly open. Dust floated in a sliver of afternoon light.
I hesitated, but pushed the door open. And froze.
Every wall was covered with hundreds of portraits of a woman at different stages of her life.
In some, she was laughing, in others crying, elsewhere asleep or angry, and in a few, impossibly soft.
In the corners, dates were written, including future ones.
I moved closer, pulled one portrait off the wall, and studied it carefully.
“Who is she?”
Henry appeared behind me.
“Sweetheart, I told you not to come in here.”
He looked terrified.
“Henry, answer me. These paintings… Who is she?”
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