Note: Based on a true story. Names, dates, places, and details have been changed for privacy.

When plucked, a guitar string's vibrations transfer to the wood body or electric pickup, creating a note. Long after our ears cease to hear it, the string continues to vibrate, in silent echoes of events past.

I thought my memory of Erica had completely dissipated, yet it had softly murmured in the background, unnoticed for thirty years...

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It's something unpredictable,
but in the end there's right.
I hope you had the time of your life...
Green Day.

Christmas Eve 2015

"Grandpa, why do you always play old songs on Christmas Eve?"

Normally, I would tease Gwen with an unlikely story, but I had an interesting answer for her. "My grandfather played his accordion for us every Christmas, so I'm keeping up the tradition."

She gave me the standard dismissive blank look, universal among thirteen-year-old girls. "Oh. That's cool, I guess. Hey Grandpa, can I ask you something?"

My stepdaughter Kris interrupted, "Bug! Stop bothering him. I'm sorry, Ray."

Because she knew I only tolerated children in small doses, Gwen's mother kindly tried to keep her from literally hanging on me as much as she would like to. Gwen's early physical development also made her attentions look and feel somewhat creepy. Thankfully, my guitar prevented her from sitting in my lap, so she merely rested her head on my knee. Gwen had boundary issues, but I decided to humor her. "Sure, go ahead."

I could never have imagined what she wanted to know...

"Why do you call Grandma, Olivia instead of Erica?"

Erica. A name I had not heard for thirty years. In a millisecond, it all came rushing back to me. My dry mouth and cold shiver when I first gazed into her piercing blue eyes and felt pure desire. How our first kiss revealed a sweetness to her I never thought existed. The first time we made love, and I explored the wonders of her beyond sexy body.

But most vividly, how I fell in love with her.

Visibly shaken, I stammered, "Where did that come from?"

Gwen took a moment to relish getting the upper hand over me.
"Your mom told me you proposed to Erica a century ago."

Certainly she meant "The last century," but I never corrected her. I wasn't even her real grandfather, though the only one she knew.
I chuckled, "Oh, right. Gwen, that was a different woman. She..."

Kris and my sister-in-law Melanie must have sensed an interesting conversation, and had gathered around. My wife Olivia remained outside smoking with my mother, which only made the conversation a little less embarrassing.

Melanie arched her brows, "You were married before, Ray? I didn't know that."

Kris pulled up a chair, "How long were you married? What happened?"

Shit...

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