Worse Than A Broken Heart

A THING WORSE THAN A BROKEN HEART

“I’m sorry about your husband.’ I said.
She didn’t answer right away. She nodded. After a moment she leaned forward in her chair, putting her elbows on her knees and looking down at the floor.
“It broke my heart,” she said. “He was the best man I ever knew or ever expect to know, and I miss him every day and our boy misses him.”
“Yeah… sure,” I said.
“No, I mean, really. Look at me Charlie.”
I looked at here, the last piece of bread lifted halfway to my lips.
She said, “A broken heart is not the worst thing in the world. And neither, when it comes to that, is death. You can’t get through a good, strong life without coming upon both of them, one way or another, without looking them both straight in the eye. But if I could go back in time and protect myself from my broken heart by living my life in fear, by saying yes to every bully and slave driver who cam along, by scuttling away from my duty and from my country and from the things I love and believe in, I wouldn’t do it, and my husband wouldn’t have done it, and he wouldn’t want me to do it. You understand what I am telling you, Charlie?”

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Veteran’s widow, Margaret in ‘The Truth Of The Matter’ – book three of the Homelander series – by Andrew Klavan, pp.250-251