You follow your father into the kitchen and tell him you’ve decided to stay. The unexpected embrace of your father, who is not an emotional man, helps allay the fear that you’re passing up the opportunity of a lifetime.

The next day, your father calls on an associate, an esteemed architect named Richard Upjohn, who is looking for a hard-working young man of honor for a project he’s undertaken under a vow of secrecy.

Lindenwald (The Van Buren Estate), Kinderhook, NY

Your work ethic and discretion impress Upjohn, as the two of you work to restore and renovate Lindenwald, the private estate of former President Martin Van Buren.

At Lindenwald, you learn to install modern features like indoor plumbing and central heating. You act as a hired hand, apprentice, and confidant to the esteemed architect. One late summer evening, as you pack up your equipment, the former president approaches you as you drink from a canteen beneath a young willow tree.

“You’re doing fine work here,” Van Buren says. “If you need assistance in the future, do not hesitate to call on me.”

The project complete, you pour your savings into a plumbing business. You earn a fair living, and pass the business to your eldest son when you retire in 1882.

In the autumn of your life, you spend the long winters surrounded by friends and family before a crackling fire, and you spend long summer nights on the veranda, reflecting on your quiet and comfortable life.

But every single day, for the rest of your life, your thoughts drift to the winter of 1848, and you wonder what could have been.

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