I had lost my daughter Lily seventeen years ago, and the pain in our lives would never go away. Her disappearance was still a secret, and the pain didn’t go away. On a normal night, I was walking home from work when I heard a familiar tune that took me back to a better time.
In the town square, a young woman was singing while her voice echoed the song I had written for Lily. The song was a close, private link that only the two of them knew about. Still, here it was, sung with power and feeling.
As I got closer, I saw that the woman looked a lot like my wife Cynthia. She had the same dark hair, smile, and left cheek dimple. It was strange. My heart was racing with fear and excitement.
We looked at each other after she was done singing, and I worked up the courage to walk up to her. After some awkward greetings, I asked her to meet me for coffee. As soon as we sat down, it felt like home.
She said that the song was the only thing she remembered from her childhood and that she had hummed it ever since she could remember. Since she was adopted when she was five, she had always felt like she was missing something. The people who took her in told her that her real parents had died in a car crash.
As I listened, my hands shook. Is this Lily? I became more and more sure as we talked. She said that her mother’s name was Cynthia and that her name might have been Lily.
As I told them who I was, I felt flooded with emotion. I tried not to cry as I said, “My name is John.” “Lily’s father.”
The moment felt like it could go either way. Then she asked in a whisper, “Dad?”
We held each other while tears ran down our faces. In that moment, years of longing and doubt went away.
I took Lily home to meet her mom. When they saw each other again, Cynthia’s shock and happiness were clear. We already knew Lily was ours, but the DNA test proved it.
As we caught up on years that had been missed, our house was filled with laughter and tears. Life has a strange way of bringing back things we thought were lost for good. I will always remember that chance meeting in the town square as a lesson that hope can last even when things look the worst.
