Partners laugh about the innocuous means by which they come to associate. Occasionally one will run across a story that has all the romantic trappings of a Lifetime movie; most often there is some routine interaction at the root of a partnership.

And so that would be the memory given to Ronnie and Tim decades into the future – looking back on a chance meeting when both were either drunk or on their way to gaining such status.

Tim and Ronnie did have that beer the following night, and they did catch the movie – Harry & Tonto. Much to the great amusement of Ronnie, it was Tim who first needed tissues as the story wound to a conclusion.

After the movie, they strolled a few blocks from campus, into the small downtown area, which at that time lay claim to the widest main street in the USA, now lost to the reconstruction of time.

As they walked along, each asked and in turn shared some of their past history. There were serious stories, there were funny stories, and there was a bonding of sorts between two people who were rapidly starting to understand there was a multi-level interactive attraction afoot.

After reaching the midsection of the downtown area, they crossed the street, and walked along Emerald Avenue, turning left onto Wilson Street. An older school lie along Wilson, and as they grew closer, Ronnie’s expression turned grave. Tim immediately sensed the change and inquired worriedly but simply “what is wrong?”

He could see Ronnie take a deep breath. She started walking towards the steps of the old school, and Tim followed along, his worry increasing. Ronnie found a spot on the granite steps to her liking, and moved to a sitting position. Once again, Tim followed suit, taking a place right alongside Ronnie.

“Ronnie?” he restarted the conversation, as Ronnie looked away, searching for the words she wished to share.

“There is a history of Parkinson’s disease in my family. There is a test available, but I’ve chosen not to find out if I will fall to the disease.

Unbeknownst to Ronnie in that moment, she was doing something quite unlike the person with whom she was choosing to share her story with – someone who most definitely had a story to share, but who had yet to even realise the story could ever be shared. And what would she have said in that moment of reverse revelation had the words called out details of a life fabricated by illusion?

In this moment, Ronnie’s revelation had triggered the hair on Tim’s arm, a symptom of her words scaring him silly. “What…?” Ronnie picked up on the leading question. “My great grandfather, my father, and my uncle have had the disease.

Tim looked at Ronnie, completely befuddled. In 21 years of life, the disease had never previously crossed his path.

I thought it only fair to tell you this. I really like you, Tim and I will not hide anything from you.” Ronnie was holding her principles high and holding them with honour.

Tim breathed a deep sigh of relief, and smiled. “It’s not amusing” Ronnie, in sensing his change in state of mind, added defensively.

“I know” Tim began. “It’s just that I thought you were going to tell me you had cancer and were dying.” Now it was Ronnie who smiled. Her seriousness now stripped away, she playfully tapped Tim on the arm, and then asked “so it does not bother you?”

“Why should it?” Tim responded rhetorically.

“Let’s just say it has bothered someone in the past.”

“Well, it doesn’t bother me, and that person was a fool.” Tim was calling on some projection of manhood in the moment.

And while Tim was indeed harbouring a deep, dark secret, he had no awareness of just how deep that secret ran. He was only aware of the surface pressure, not the true cause of that pressure. He had his own demon to fight, and on that front, sanity – for it was an issue Tim wrongfully perceived as one of sanity versus lack of same – was prevailing. While he knew what welled inside, he had zero knowledge of why.

And curiously, on a day Ronnie showed her strength, Tim held tight to his secret. The seeds of their demise were already in the ground, there to lie dormant until some triggering event rekindled the dormant life within.