I Laid My Son to Rest 15 Years Ago – When I Hired a Man at My Store, I Could Have Sworn He Looked Exactly Like Him

It never did.

Eventually, the sheriff sat us down. Without a body, there wasn’t much they could do. The case would stay open, but after so long, they had to assume our son had died.

Karen cried until she couldn’t breathe.

I just sat there.

The search lasted for months.

Life continued.

Karen and I never had other children. We talked about it, but I think we believed losing another child would destroy us completely.

So instead, I buried myself in work.

I owned a small hardware and supply store just outside of town. Keeping it running gave me something to focus on, which made the days move forward.

Fifteen years passed in that way.

I buried myself in work.

Then, one afternoon, something strange happened.

I’d been sitting in the office flipping through resumes for a janitor position. The store needed someone dependable.

Most of the applications looked the same: short job histories, a few references, nothing memorable.

Then I reached one that made me stop.

The name at the top read “Barry.”

I told myself it was just a coincidence. “Barry” was a common name.

One afternoon, something strange happened.

But when I looked at the photo attached to the application, my hands froze.