[ WP ] 95 year old man goes to the funeral of the man his deceased wife left him for decades ago . He did n't want to go but this man was the last person he had a tangible connection to . All of his other family , friends and acquaintances already died .

The room was eerily quiet. There were a few rows of chairs laid out, and each row was flanked by the same generic flower bouquet. And in the middle row, in the middle chair, sat Chuck, who began to loudly blow his nose. 
 
 He did n't want to come. He often perused the obituaries to see if anyone else he knew in life had passed yet. It had been years since he had come to one of these, but the name jumped out at him. 
 
 `` Preston Maycoth was a man devote to God...'' droned the Pastor, reading the generic paragraph that every poor bastard without a family was given at their funeral. Chuck suspected the pastor had hoped no one would show but alas, there he was, hacking up a lung while the pastor made every effort to avoid eye contact. While Chuck had no one left in his life, it seemed Preston did n't either. 
 
 The Pastor gave a small cough, staring directly at Chuck. `` I'm done. You may view the casket now.'' 
 
 He nodded, before carefully rising out of his seat and shuffling his way to the front of the room. The Pastor disappeared through the double doors and now Chuck was alone with this body of a man he barely knew. In the casket laid a photo of Preston and his wife. 
 
 `` Beth...'' A memory stirred in Chuck. 
 
 Her arms were wrapped around him. Chuck watched from the window as they embraced at the end of his drive way. At one point it was their driveway but it did n't really matter now. 
 
 Beth made her way up to the house and after she knocked, he quietly waited until the count of ten before opening the door. 
 
 `` Hey Chuck'' she smiled. Damn her smile. 
 
 `` Beth,'' he stepped aside to let her in. She glanced up at the roof as if to admire what he had done with the place. In fact it had gotten a lot worse since she had left. The walls seemed to ooze with bad memories and the paint had begun to yellow. 
 
 `` You said you had one more box?'' 
 
 `` Ah, yeah, in the living room,'' he replied, leading her to the room where they once spent their Sundays playing card games and drinking wine. He pointed to the fireplace. `` Just there.'' 
 
 While she looked through the box he watched her face carefully, soaking in every detail. He watched as she smiled at pictures, looked fondly over knick knacks, and finally her face falling as she picked up a small box. She stood up and turned to him, holding it out in front of her. 
 
 `` I gave this back to you, it's yours.'' 
 
 `` I know,'' he said carefully taking the box from her. He opened it slowly to reveal a diamond ring. It was simple and elegant. He smiled and held it out to her. 
 
 `` I'm with -'' 
 
 `` I know, I know... I'm not going to stop that,'' Chuck said, looking outside to where Preston waited on the driveway, leaning against his car and staring aimlessly down the street. `` But... It's yours. Keep it locked away, forget about it, sell it... I do n't care. But if you ever want to come back. If you ever want to try again, so long as you have this ring... I'll know you still love me a little... and that's worth waiting for''. 
 
 Chuck tightened his grip on the photo. She had left with the ring that day. She never came running into his arms, and he never remarried. He had tried, but he never felt for anyone what he felt for Beth. He never bothered to go to her funeral. He did n't think he'd be able to face her after all those years. 
 
 Taking one last look at the photo, something caught his eye. Around Beth's neck was a simple chain. At the end hung a small diamond ring. His ring. 
 
 His laughter surprised him. It started small but before he knew it, it became full body laughter. He sat down in the first row, the laughter continuing to shake him, tears streaming down his face. His laughter began to mix with sobs and he was n't sure what exactly he was feeling anymore. He looked at the photo again. The ring was really there. 
 
 The Pastor peered in from the lobby, watching the old man laughing in an empty casket viewing. Watching the man say good-bye to his love, one last time.
