The Garden of Forking Paths

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2024-09-29 15:30:06

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In late 2012, shortly before Christmas, an old woman sat down in London’s Embankment station. Unlike the other passengers, she wasn’t there to travel. While everyone else ignored the pre-recorded safety announcement, she was eagerly awaiting it. When it came, she was dismayed. Then, she began to cry.

As Tube trains whizzed past, commuters swirling around her, Margaret McCollum wiped tears from her eyes. It had been five years since her husband, Oswald Laurence, had died. But this was the day Margaret felt like he was truly gone forever.

When staff at the station came over to comfort Margaret, they asked her what was wrong. What she told them moved them to tears, too.