25. Those lost 20 years
It feels weird to make this moment no. 25, after all this really is probably the most heartbreaking thing of all.
When Claire was forced to leave Jamie, she thought she’d never see him again. She believed for nearly 20 years that he had died on the battlefield, as history had dictated.
It wasn’t until Frank died that she was released of her promise to set the memory of Jamie aside and went looking for him in the record books.
In fact, it was their daughter Brianna who finally convinced her mother to look for Jamie. It didn’t come easily, for he was in hiding and changed his name. When they finally found him, it was like all of our worlds were crashing down around us.
We were, of course, glad that he’d survived, but then it hit us — she could have stayed. They could have stayed together. Instead they lived apart, each longing desperately for the other, for 20 whole years.
I cannot even imagine knowing that there were years when I could have been with the one I loved, had I just known.