My Gay Neighbor

Lilly, read the final chapter to Jonathan as they sat close together on her natural leather love seat he loved the first time he entered her apartment the day they met. With his arm around her shoulder, he closed his eyes and listened to her soft voice, which sometimes emitted crackling sounds as she lost her composure and broke down and cried openly.

Her story's conclusion read, "I lost my sister when she was twenty and unable to accept the life she was given. I miss her and wish somehow I could have helped her through her despair. Avie was gentle, the kindest sister a person could ever have: but she was never loved in return. I was just fifteen when she died in a fatal accident when she drove her old rusty car into a concrete bridge abutment traveling over 100 miles per hour. Thankfully, she was alone and didn't injure an innocent human being. The police report indicated suicide, and I was devastated."

"By now, you know, I am not the lonely young lady that is helplessly gay and unhappy without a single friend other than my little sister, Lilly, who wrote this narrative. Instead, I am the heterosexual little sister that became a journalist, and for the first time in my life, I have fallen in love. Yes, I met a wonderful man just before the first chapter of my story was printed nearly three months ago."

"What you don't know is that I lied to this fabulous man who became my friend even after I told him I was gay because I felt it necessary to continue the narrative I began of a gay woman telling her lonely story. As you read this final chapter today, I am telling the man I have deceived that I am incredibly sorry, and I am begging for his forgiveness."

"Readers, this morning, please say a special prayer for me. I know this will be a difficult morning, but I also have learned that the man I have fallen in love with is compassionate and forgiving. I expect by now to be in his loving arms and telling him how much I love him, and that I will never be untruthful as long as we are together."

"Thank you very much for the many kind letters and emails that you have sent to console my sister in her agony. I believe she is in a better place now where she can be in total peace."

Epilog

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day Lilly met Jonathan on their patios overlooking Atlanta. Lilly and Jonathan have been married for four years, and they're the proud parents of two-year-old twins. Josh is darker complexioned with brown eyes just like his father, while his little sister and thirty minutes younger, Jessie, has Lilly's blond hair and blue eyes.

Yesterday, my doctor confirmed I was pregnant again and expecting twins once more. We're excited and hopeful they will be as healthy and wonderful as Josh and Jessie. Every day I thank God Jonathan didn't dismiss me the first day we met, and that we have become best friends, lovers, and dedicated parents. Thanks to all of you that said that special prayer that helped me finish my story about Avie, the sister I shall never forget.