My Husband Returned t0 Vietnam Two Days After 0ur Wedding and Never Came Back – 56 Years Later, Flowers Arrived with a Note That Began, ‘Darling, You Won’t Believe Why I Had to Disappear’

I pulled my hand back.

It wasn’t a thorn.

Wedged among the fresh roses was something yellow and crumpled.

Paper.

I eased it free.

It was a flower, folded badly from faded yellow paper. One side leaned farther out than the other, and the stem had been reinforced with a narrow strip of brittle tape.

I almost laughed at how ugly it was.

Then I saw a letter written near the bottom.

J.