A Once in a Lifetime Gift

When I was a kid growing up on a quiet little street in a quiet little neighborhood, I had a neighbor. He was nice older gentleman, but he never socialized with anyone. He never had friends or family over to his house. He would sit on his front porch and watch the sunrise over the houses across the street. Then he would go inside all day only to come out to his back patio to watch the sun set over the houses behind him.

Being a little neighborhood we tended to bump into various neighbors at the grocery or the gas station, but never him. He didn’t have a car. His groceries were delivered to him. The closest that anyone ever saw him interact with anyone was when he paid the service that mowed his lawn or cleared his drive in the winter.

People had wild stories to tell about him. At best some thought he was an old lonely man who had given up on life. Others thought he could have been in the witness protection service. A few whispered that he was a serial killer.

My parents had left for the day leaving the then sixteen year old me alone. A sixteen-year-old boy home alone can be a dangerous or at least mischievous thing. In my case I wanted to get my chores done early and then spend the day doing nothing. I was very good at doing nothing, if they had an award for lazy, I would have won the gold medal, but to be honest that would have been too much work for me.

I was walking back to the house after dragging the garbage can to the curb. My dad would be furious if he found out I didn’t take the garbage can out on garbage day. A voice startled me out of my ponderings.

“Good morning.” A voice called out.

I looked about confused; I wasn’t expecting anyone to speak to me. Everyone was either at work or asleep. Then I noticed him sitting on his front porch. I knew he never spoke to anyone so I decided I had been hearing things.

“Good morning, young man.” I heard the voice again.

This time I looked up at him and he waved me over. I was shocked and a bit worried. I considered being rude and run into my house to lock the doors, but something felt like he wasn’t any danger to me. So I walked over to the steps of his home.

“Um, good morning, sir.” I said shyly.

He smiled at me. There was nothing odd or evil about him. He had bright blue eyes and close cut grey hair. “You’ve lived her all your life.” He stated.

“Yes, sir I have.”

“Did you know I was the first person to live in this house? I bought it brand new.”

“Yes, sir. Everyone knows you were the first to move into the neighborhood.” I responded curious as to where this was going.

“I will be the last to live in this house too.” He said with some sadness to his voice.

I didn’t know how to respond to such an odd statement. Did he think he was going to live forever? Maybe he was just a little crazy.

“You have a good soul and you will become a good man. But like all good men you will have to be honed to become who you are to become.” His bright eyes stared into mine.

“Um, thanks.”

“Today is your birthday, is it not?”

“Yes, sir. How did you know?”

The man laughed, “I was here when you were born. I saw them carry you into the house. Your parents were so very happy.” He smiled at the memory.

This was a tad bit creepy for me. I considered my other option of running into my house and locking the door.

“I’ve watched you grow up.” He said still lost in memories.

This went from tad to very creepy. It was time to make a run for it.

“So, happy birthday. And since it’s your sixteenth birthday, I have a present for you.” He kept smiling, but in a kind gentle way.

Ok, so the thought of a present kept me from running.

“Thanks.” I was unsure what to do next then he did something I thought I would never see. He got up and walked down the steps to stand in front of me.

He was medium build and my height. Nothing really stuck out about his features; he seemed normal and very average. He held out his fist with his palm down. I held out my open hand palm up. My eyes grew big with surprise when he dropped a diamond ring into my hand.

Ok, so my first thought was, oh no the pervy old man is going to propose to me. Then I noticed what was odd about the ring. The diamond was solid black. I looked up astonished at the man.

“Few people will ever get a gift like this.” He said still smiling. “This ring will glow and become a clear diamond when you are with your one true love, your soul mate. You only get one, so treasure her.”

Ok, the man was crazy, but not in a bad way. I stood looking at him and he laughed.

“I know you don’t believe me, but one day you will. I didn’t believe it either when it was given to me. Hang on to that ring and you’ll find out.” He winked at me and turned around walked up his stairs and into his house. I stood still for several minutes.

Finally I said, “Thank you for the present.” I’m pretty sure he heard me.

I didn’t tell anyone about the ring or the neighbor talking to me. I figured my parents would flip out or my friends wouldn’t believe me. But I kept the ring.

I dated several girls in high school. I loved them all and told them all they were my soul mate, that it was true love. After graduation I went off to college. There was more dating and truer loves. The ring stayed black. Part of me really wished the story was true, but I knew it was just a crazy old man telling a crazy story, but it was my story.

My mother called me the day after the fire. I was in my final year of college. She said that her and my dad woke to the sirens of the fire trucks outside. Our neighbor’s house had caught on fire in the middle of the night. They found him in his bedroom on the second floor. They said he had died from smoke inhalation. He died peacefully and still smiling.

I cried when I heard the news. I don’t know why, I only talked to him that one time. I knew nothing about him. After the last tear feel, I felt at peace. Maybe he was with his soul mate now.

I dated some more after college and then I met her. She was the one. I was so very much in love with her. We dated for almost a year and then I asked her to marry me. She said yes. We were married a year later. We were happy and we were in love. The ring stayed black.

Less than a year after we were married, we had great news. We were going to be parents. It was wonderful and scary. We were going to be the best parents. Our son was born and we were so very happy. We took him home and we were a family. I loved my family.

A few years later, we got more good news. We were going to have another child. The second was as wonderful and as scary, but we were getting into the parenting thing. She was born and we brought her home. We were happy, my kids and my wonderful wife, my true love and soul mate. The ring stayed black.

Every year since he gave me the ring, I would take it out on my birthday and look at it. Every year I remembered the odd old man the lived next door to me who gave me the odd crazy present. I smiled every time. I wanted to story to be true, but I knew that was crazy.

“I want a divorce.” She said it for the fourth time and I was still sitting at our kitchen table dumbfounded. We argued. We had been fighting for years; to be honest we had been fighting since our first child was born. We had different ideas, different goals and different needs.

The divorce was thankfully easy on the kids and us. We had only been married five years and we didn’t own much. We were cordial to each other when we needed to interact. The kids grew up never really knowing us being together. We took turns having the kids. Living in the came city made it fairly easy.

Six months after the divorce, she moved in with her boyfriend. I never questioned some of the timing about their relationship. It wasn’t worth fighting about. A year later they were married. He was a nice guy and he was good to my kids. I wouldn’t say we were the best of friends, but we were friendly.

Time went on. My kids grew up. My x-wife divorced again and remarried again. Oh, I dated, but never married. Everyone that I met never made the ring change. I know that’s crazy, but I wanted it to be true. I knew I didn’t need to be in a relationship, so there was no harm in my little fantasy. The ring stayed black.

I sat in my bed at midnight. It was my birthday and I couldn’t sleep. My latest true love was asleep next to me. We had been dating for over a year and she had been living with me for about six months.

It was my birthday and I was thinking about my crazy neighbor. I reached over and opened my dresser drawer. I kept a little box there. I pulled out the box and opened it and took out the ring he gave me.

I sat frozen for almost fifteen minutes. I turned on the light and stared at the ring some more. The diamond was clear. I looked over at my sleeping companion. Could she really be my true love? I turned off the light so I wouldn’t wake her.

I slipped back into bed next to her and snuggled up close to her. I gently slipped the ring on her finger. It glowed with a soft white light. After all this time, I found her, my one true love.