Oh yes, he had a whole lot of catching up to do

The old man took one step back from the point where he was standing. He took a last look at the picture on the shelf. It had been there for a long, long time. As a tear rolled down his cheek he lifted the hammer and aimed it well. The glass shattered in a thousand pieces. The man placed the hammer gently on the bedside table as he walked out from the room. Soon he returned with a broom and a dustpan. He felt his back hurt as he bent down to sweep up the glass.

He thought he would have felt sadness, loss, but he didn't. He thought about that later on, as he had sat down to smoke a cigarette. He had shed one single tear. One. All of these years filled with sadness, agony and pain. They ended while shedding one tear.

He had loved her so much. It had caused him pain for so many years. Losing her. Living without her. As he sat there, smoking his cigarette, he thought about all the years he had lost as well. Grieving. Losing her again and again and again. Breaking his heart by trying to find a way to get her back. All those years.

And now. It was all gone. The pain had disappeared the moment he smashed her picture into pieces. It was almost like the pain had been trapped within that frame. Like he had kept it there by keeping the frame on the same shelf. Since the day she walked out the door and never came back.

"I'm an old man", he thought. "I have wasted my life." He always blamed her. Every day he had woken up thinking "Why did she do that to me. How did she dare do that to me, the person who had loved her forever?" Every night he had gone to bed hoping to wake up, finding her next to him, finding it'd all been a dream.

Now for the first time in 37 years he felt free. He opened the closet and let his fingers touch every single piece of clothing inside. He had worn the same gray clothes for years now. He suddenly felt like spicing it up somewhat.

The read shirt had fit him better years ago, but he still liked the feel of it. The brown velvet blazer still fit, more or less. He added the hat. The hat that he had bought for their honeymoon. That didn't disturb him now, as he was walking out the door. He was on his way to the bar on the opposite side of the street. He had seen some fine women dining there a few nights ago. Who knew, maybe one of them fancied a drink and maybe a stroll down the pier. Oh yes, he had a whole lot of catching up to do.