I Married a Stranger From a Hospital Waiting Room So He Wouldn’t Die Alone—After Our One-Week Marriage, His Lawyer Handed Me His Backpack

page contained only two sentences, written in ink that had faded slightly with age.

People think loneliness is the absence of company. Most of the time, it’s the absence of being noticed.

The words felt strangely familiar, though I couldn’t remember Thomas ever saying them to me directly. I turned the page, expecting something more personal — a diary,continue reading …