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“My Grandfather Said You Needed A Wife” She Whispered… and I Said, “He Wasn't Wrong.” — Transcript

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0:00The day after we buried her grandfather,
0:02Sophie Russo walked into my diner at
0:05exactly 6:15 in the morning, sat down on
0:08his stool at the end of the counter, and
0:11looked at me with tired red-rimmed eyes.
0:14Then she leaned across the counter and
0:16whispered, "My grandfather said you
0:19needed a wife."
0:21I set down the coffee pot,
0:23and before my brain could stop my mouth,
0:25I said, "He wasn't wrong."
0:28Sophie blinked. Her lips parted. For a
0:31second, the whole diner went quiet. Mrs.
0:34Kaminski in booth three stopped chewing
0:37her toast.
0:38Then Sophie laughed, a small, surprised
0:41laugh, the first one I'd heard from her
0:43all week.
0:45"Well," she said, pushing her dark hair
0:47behind her ear, "Grandpa Eddie would
0:50have loved that answer." "He would
0:52have," I said. "He'd have said it was
0:54about time."
0:56My name is Dylan Ross. I'm 33 years old,
1:00and I own Ross's Diner in Millbrook,
1:02Pennsylvania. One stoplight, two
1:05churches, and a diner that's been open
1:07since 1971.
1:10My grandfather opened it, my father ran
1:12it, and when my dad got sick four years
1:15ago, I came home from culinary school in
1:17Chicago to help out for a few months.
1:21I never left. I make pancakes, I pour
1:24coffee, I know everybody's order. But
1:27some mornings at 5:00 a.m., turning on
1:29the grill alone, I wondered what
1:31happened to the guy who wanted to be a
1:33real chef in a real city.
1:36Eddie Russo was the one who made those
1:38early mornings easier.
1:40Eddie was 88, a retired math teacher who
1:43ran the high school chess club for 40
1:46years. Every morning for 3 years, he
1:49walked into my diner at exactly 6:15,
1:52sat down on the last stool, black
1:55coffee, rye toast, light butter, two
1:58eggs over easy. And every morning he
2:00brought his chessboard.
2:02"Kid," he'd say, setting up the pieces,
2:05"you're black, I'm white. One move."
2:08"Eddie, I'm working." "You're pouring
2:11coffee. Your hands can do two things."
2:14So, we played. One move every morning
2:16between pancakes and refills. He beat me
2:1942 times. I beat him once. He said I
2:23cheated. I didn't.
2:25And every morning between moves, he'd
2:27look at me over his reading glasses and
2:29say the same thing.
2:31"You need a wife, kid. Too much coffee,
2:34not enough life."
2:35"I've got plenty of life, Eddie."
2:38"You've got a griddle and a cat named
2:40Pancake. That's not a life. That's a
2:42breakfast menu."
2:44And then he'd tell me about Sophie.
2:47His granddaughter, his pride and joy.
2:49She lived in New York City and sewed
2:52costumes for Broadway shows.
2:54Eddie showed me pictures on his flip
2:56phone. Sophie backstage surrounded by
2:59sequins. Sophie at age seven holding a
3:01chess trophy bigger than her head.
3:04"She beat me when she was nine," Eddie
3:06said proudly. "Nobody beats me."
3:09"I beat you." "You cheated." "Eddie."
3:13"She's single, you know," he'd say,
3:15sipping his coffee. "Just saying." For
3:17no reason.
3:19"Eddie, she lives in New York." "New
3:21York has trains, kid. They go both
3:24directions."
3:26I never met her. She came home twice a
3:28year and always on days I was buried in
3:30the kitchen.
3:32Then 2 weeks ago, Eddie didn't come in
3:34at 6:15.
3:36At 6:20, I called his house. No answer.
3:39At 6:30, I closed the diner for the
3:42first time in 15 years and drove to his
3:45little blue house on Maple Street.
3:48He'd fallen in his kitchen. I found him.
3:50I rode in the ambulance with him.
3:52He lasted four more days.
3:55On the last day, I sat by his bed. His
3:57voice was barely a whisper, but he
3:59grabbed my hand and said, "Kid, promise
4:03me something."
4:04"Anything, Eddie."
4:06"Look out for my Sophie. She acts tough.
4:09She's not."
4:10"I promise."
4:12He smiled. Then he squeezed my hand and
4:14said, "And finish the game."
4:17I thought he was confused. He passed
4:19away that night. Sophie's train from New
4:22York arrived 2 hours too late.
4:25So, here she was, the morning after the
4:27funeral, sitting on his stool at 6:15.
4:31She was 30, dark wavy hair, big brown
4:34eyes red from crying. She was wearing an
4:37old oversized gray sweater that I
4:40recognized. It was Eddie's. She'd rolled
4:43the sleeves up three times.
4:45"I hope it's okay that I came," she said
4:47quietly. "I couldn't be in his house
4:50this morning. It's too quiet. And he
4:52always told me about this place."
4:55"He talked about you every single
4:57morning," I said.
4:58"Really?" She looked up.
5:01"For 3 years. I know you beat him at
5:04chess when you were nine. I know you
5:06hate olives. I know you sewed a dress
5:08for a famous actress and she cried when
5:10she put it on."
5:12Sophie's eyes filled with tears.
5:14"He told you all that?"
5:16"I told you you were single about a
5:18thousand times." She laughed and covered
5:21her face with the sleeves. "Oh, no. He
5:24did that to you, too?"
5:26"Every day."
5:28"He told me you were single every time
5:30we talked," she said through her
5:32sleeves. He said, "Sophie, there's a
5:34nice boy at the diner. He makes good
5:37pancakes and he's sad."
5:39"He said I was sad?"
5:41"He said you were sad and you needed a
5:43wife."
5:44She lowered her hands. And then you said
5:47he wasn't wrong.
5:49I felt my face go hot. "I wasn't saying
5:52I needed you to be the wife. I was just
5:54saying" "She knows what I was saying,"
5:57she said softly with a tiny smile. "It
6:00was still a good answer."
6:01I poured her a coffee, black. Then I
6:04made her rye toast, light butter, two
6:06eggs over easy.
6:08She looked down at the plate. Her lip
6:10trembled. "That's his order." she
6:12whispered.
6:14"I thought you might want it."
6:15She didn't say anything. She just ate
6:18every bite slowly while I pretended to
6:20be very busy wiping down the counter.
6:23Two days later, I got a call from Mr.
6:26Fitzgerald, Eddie's lawyer and his
6:28friend for 60 years.
6:30"Eddie left you something in his will.
6:32His granddaughter will be there, too."
6:35When I walked into his office, Sophie
6:37gave me a small wave from the chair by
6:39the window.
6:40Mr. Fitzgerald read the will. The house
6:43went to Sophie, the savings went to the
6:45high school chess club. Then he picked
6:47up a wooden box and handed it to me.
6:50"And to Dylan Ross," he read, "I leave
6:53my chessboard." I opened the box. Inside
6:56was Eddie's chessboard. The pieces were
6:59set up exactly the way we left them the
7:01morning before he fell. Our unfinished
7:03game. Taped inside the lid was an
7:06envelope with my name on it in Eddie's
7:08shaky handwriting.
7:10"Kid, this game isn't over, but I'm not
7:12the one who's going to finish it. Sophie
7:15plays white now. You play black. One
7:18move a day at the counter at 6:15. No
7:21cheating. You know I'll know. Eddie."
7:25I looked up at Sophie. She had her own
7:27envelope in her hands. Her face was
7:29bright red. "What does your say? I
7:32asked." She cleared her throat. "It
7:35says, Sophie, you have to clean out my
7:37house. It'll take a few weeks. While
7:39you're in Millbrook, finish my chess
7:41game with the kid at the diner. One move
7:44a day. Don't let him cheat. He cheats."
7:47"I do not cheat." Mr. Fitzgerald
7:50chuckled. "Eddie said you'd say that."
7:53Sophie looked down at the letter again.
7:55Her voice got very quiet. "And at the
7:57bottom it says, P.S. He makes good
8:00pancakes. Give him a chance."
8:03The whole office went silent. Mr.
8:05Fitzgerald coughed and suddenly got very
8:08interested in his paperwork. Sophie
8:10folded her letter. "So," she said
8:13slowly, "I guess I'll see you at 6:15."
8:16"I guess you will." "Don't cheat." "I
8:18don't cheat." She smiled, a real smile
8:22this time, and I finally understood why
8:24Eddie talked about her every single day.
8:27The next morning at exactly 6:15, the
8:30bell over the door jingled. Sophie sat
8:33on the end stool. I sat down the coffee,
8:36rye toast, eggs over easy. Then I set
8:39the chessboard on the counter between
8:40us.
8:41She studied it for a long time, then she
8:44moved her bishop. "Your move," she said.
8:47"Tomorrow." And that's how it started.
8:50Every morning at 6:15, one move, one cup
8:53of coffee, 20 minutes of talking before
8:56the breakfast rush. She told me about
8:58her tiny apartment in Queens with a
9:00radiator that screamed. I told her about
9:03culinary school and how I'd wanted to
9:05open a restaurant someday with a menu
9:07that changed every week. "Why didn't
9:10you?" she asked. "My dad got sick.
9:13Somebody had to keep the grill on, and
9:15then I just never left." Sophie studied
9:17me over her coffee. "Grandpa said that's
9:20why you were sad. He said you gave up
9:22your dream to keep someone else's
9:24alive." I didn't know what to say to
9:26that, so I moved my knight. On the sixth
9:30day, she noticed that my apron was
9:32ripped at the pocket. "Take it off."
9:34"Sophie, I'm working." "Take it off,
9:36Dylan." I took it off. She pulled a tiny
9:39sewing kit out of her purse, and in 4
9:42minutes she fixed the pocket so
9:43perfectly you couldn't tell it had been
9:45torn.
9:46"You carry a sewing kit in your purse?"
9:49"I'm a costume designer. I carry a
9:51sewing kit in every purse I own."
9:54On the ninth day, she showed up with a
9:56brand new apron, dark blue, Ross's Diner
9:59embroidered on the front in white
10:01thread, and a tiny black knight stitched
10:03on the pocket. "I made it last night,"
10:06she said, not looking at me. "Your other
10:08one was embarrassing." I stood there
10:10holding it. Nobody had ever made me
10:13anything before. Sophie, I said, this is
10:17It's an apron, Dylan. Don't make it
10:18weird. I put it on. She looked at me for
10:21a long moment. Her cheeks went pink. It
10:24fits, she said quietly. She moved her
10:26queen without looking at the board. I
10:29think she was looking at me. In the
10:31afternoons, I started going to Eddie's
10:33house to help her clean it out. 60 years
10:35of chess magazines, every report card
10:38Sophie ever got, 14 identical gray
10:41sweaters. On the third afternoon, we
10:44found a box in his closet labeled in
10:46thick black marker, Sophie. Inside was
10:49everything she'd ever sent him. Birthday
10:52cards, drawings from when she was
10:54little, newspaper articles about her
10:56shows, and a single sequin in an
10:58envelope with a note that said, my first
11:01sequin on a real Broadway costume. Keep
11:04it for luck. Sophie sat down on the
11:06closet floor and cried. I sat down next
11:09to her and put my arm around her
11:10shoulders. After a while, she leaned her
11:13head against me. Thank you, she
11:15whispered, for being with him at the end
11:17when I wasn't. I knew you were coming,
11:20Sophie. He was alone. No, I said, I was
11:24holding his hand and he was talking
11:25about you. She looked up with wet brown
11:28eyes. What did he say? He said, she acts
11:31tough. She's not. Sophie laughed through
11:34her tears. That sounds like him. We sat
11:37there for a long time surrounded by 14
11:40gray sweaters. Neither of us wanted to
11:42move. On the 18th day, there was a
11:45snowstorm. The whole town shut down. By
11:486:00, the snow was halfway up the
11:50windows and I was about to close when
11:53the bell jingled. Sophie walked in
11:55covered in snow holding the chessboard
11:57box. You missed your move this morning,
12:00she said. There were 2 ft of snow.
12:02Grandpa walked here in a blizzard once,
12:05he told me. She sat down on the end
12:07stool. Make me pancakes, we're playing.
12:10I flipped the sign to closed. I turned
12:12off the overhead lights and left on the
12:14little string lights over the counter. I
12:17made her blueberry pancakes with whipped
12:19cream. Then I sat on the stool next to
12:21her instead of standing behind the
12:23counter. Outside the snow kept falling.
12:26Sinatra played softly on the radio.
12:29Sophie moved her queen. Then she looked
12:31at me with a little smile. Check, she
12:33said. She was right. My king was in
12:36trouble. Dylan, she said softly, your
12:39move. I looked at her. Her hair was
12:42still damp from the snow. Her cheeks
12:44were pink. There was a little whipped
12:45cream on her lip. I don't care about the
12:48game, I said. She went very still. I
12:51haven't cared about the game for two
12:53weeks. I come in at 5:00 a.m. and look
12:56at the clock every two minutes until
12:58it's 6:15. Yesterday I made Mrs.
13:00Kaminski's pancakes with salt instead of
13:03sugar because you laughed at something I
13:05said and I forgot what I was doing.
13:07Sophie's eyes went wide. That was you?
13:10She complained all morning. That was me.
13:14Dylan, your grandfather said I needed a
13:17wife, I said quietly. I always laughed
13:20it off, but the first morning you walked
13:22in here, I realized he didn't mean any
13:25wife. He meant you. And I think I
13:28started falling for you before I ever
13:30saw your face. Her eyes filled with
13:33tears. He told me about you every week,
13:36she whispered. The nice boy who makes
13:39pancakes and plays chess and never wins.
13:42The one who drove him to the doctor. The
13:44one who brought him soup when he was
13:46sick. He told you that? He told me
13:49everything. I think I fell for you over
13:52the phone. She laughed through her
13:54tears. Isn't that ridiculous? No, it's
13:57not ridiculous at all. I reached over
14:00and gently wiped the whipped cream off
14:02her lip with my thumb. She caught my
14:04hand and held it against her cheek.
14:06Checkmate, she whispered. It's not
14:09checkmate, it's check. I wasn't talking
14:12about the game. And she leaned over and
14:14kissed me right there at the counter in
14:17a snowstorm under the string lights with
14:20Eddie's chessboard between us. Her lips
14:23tasted like blueberries and whipped
14:25cream. I slid my hand into her damp
14:27hair. She grabbed the front of the apron
14:30she'd made me and pulled me closer. The
14:32kiss went slow and warm and deep and
14:36somewhere in the middle of it my elbow
14:38knocked the chessboard and every piece
14:40went flying onto the floor. Neither of
14:43us noticed until much later. When we
14:45finally pulled apart, Sophie looked at
14:48the pieces scattered across the floor
14:50and started laughing. "Oh, no." She
14:53said, "Grandpa's game." I said, "He'd
14:56say it was worth it." She smiled and
14:58pressed her forehead to mine. "He'd say
15:01it was about time." We spent the next
15:03week in a kind of dream. Every evening
15:06after I closed up, we sat in the diner
15:09and talked until midnight. She taught me
15:11how to flip a pancake. I taught her how
15:14to sew a button. One landed on the
15:16ceiling. "How did you even do that?"
15:19"It's a gift, Dylan." We set the chess
15:22pieces back up from memory. Both of us
15:24remembered every position. But on the
15:2724th day, everything fell apart. We were
15:30in Eddie's study packing up his books.
15:33Eddie opened his desk drawer and pulled
15:35out a little spiral notebook. On the
15:38cover in Eddie's handwriting it said,
15:40"Operation Sophie." It was a plan dated
15:44two years ago. Step one, get the kid to
15:47stop working so hard. Failed. Step two,
15:51tell Sophie about the kid every week.
15:53Step three, tell the kid about Sophie
15:56every day. He pretends not to listen. He
15:59listens. Step four, leave the chess game
16:03unfinished. Make them play it. Sophie's
16:06hands were shaking. She flipped to the
16:08last page. It was dated the day I sat by
16:11his hospital bed. Step five, make the
16:14kid promise to look out for her. He'll
16:17keep his promise. He always does. Sophie
16:20went completely still. Dylan, she said
16:23slowly, did you promise my grandfather
16:26you'd look out for me? My stomach
16:28dropped. Yes, on the last day. So that's
16:32what this is? Sophie, no. You promised a
16:35dying man you'd take care of me and you
16:38always keep your promises. It says so
16:40right here. Her voice cracked. So am I
16:43just an obligation? No, that's not my
16:47parents died when I was six, Dylan.
16:49Grandpa raised me. My whole life it's
16:52been poor little Sophie. Look out for
16:54Sophie. Tears were running down her
16:57cheeks. I moved to New York so I could
16:59be somebody who didn't need looking
17:01after and now I find out the only man
17:04I've ever fallen for is just doing my
17:07grandfather a favor. Sophie, listen to
17:10me. I can't. She grabbed her coat. I
17:13need to think. She walked out and drove
17:16away. The next morning at 6:15 the bell
17:19over the door didn't jingle. At 7:00
17:22Mrs. Kaminski came in and said gently,
17:25"Honey, I saw her car leave town last
17:27night headed towards the highway." She'd
17:29gone back to the city. That night I sat
17:32at the counter after closing with the
17:34chessboard in front of me. Black king in
17:37check, white queen right there waiting.
17:40And then I saw it. On the underside of
17:43the board taped in a corner where I'd
17:45never looked was a tiny folded piece of
17:48paper. Eddie's handwriting. Kid, if
17:51you're reading this, she probably found
17:53the notebook and got mad. She gets that
17:55from her grandmother. Here's the thing,
17:58I made you promise to look out for her,
18:00but I never asked you to love her. You
18:03did that all on your own. I watched it
18:05happen every morning at 6:15. Now go
18:09finish the game. Black can't win this
18:12one, kid. There's only one move left.
18:15Lay down your king. I read it four
18:17times. Then I picked up a marker and
18:20wrote on the door sign in big letters,
18:23"Gone to New York to finish a game."
18:26Five hours on a bus, two subway trains,
18:29one very confused security guard at a
18:32theater on West 44th Street. I found the
18:35costume shop in the basement, racks of
18:38glittering dresses, sewing machines
18:40humming, and at a work table in the
18:42back, bent over a red velvet gown with
18:45pins in her mouth, was Sophie. She
18:47looked up and saw me standing there with
18:50the chessboard box under my arm. The
18:52pins fell out of her mouth. "Dylan?" she
18:55whispered. "You closed the diner? On a
18:58Wednesday? Mrs. Kaminsky is very upset."
19:01Every seamstress in the room stopped
19:03working. I set the chessboard on her
19:06work table, right on top of the red
19:08velvet gown, black king in check. I
19:11said, "I came to finish the game."
19:14"Dylan, I can't." "One move, then you
19:17can tell me to leave." She looked at me
19:19for a long time, then she nodded. I
19:22reached over and gently tipped my black
19:24king over onto its side. Sophie stared
19:27at that. "You resigned?" "My grandfather
19:30left me a note under the board." I
19:33handed it to her. She read it, her hand
19:35flew to her mouth. "Sophie," I said,
19:38"yes, I promised Eddie I would look out
19:41for you, and I will for the rest of my
19:43life if you'll let me, but that's not
19:45why I'm here. I'm here because I fell in
19:48love with you, not because of a promise,
19:51because of the way you laugh at my
19:52terrible jokes, because you fixed my
19:55apron without asking, because you
19:57flipped a pancake onto my ceiling and
19:59called it a gift. Eddie told me I needed
20:02a wife. He was right, but I don't need
20:05just any wife. I need you." The whole
20:08costume shop was silent. Sophie looked
20:11down at the fallen king. Her tears were
20:14running down her cheeks. "You came all
20:17the way to New York to lose a chess
20:19game?" "I'd lose a thousand games to
20:22you. She laughed, a wet, beautiful,
20:25broken laugh. "I'm sorry I ran. Everyone
20:29I've ever loved I lost, and when I found
20:31that notebook, I thought, 'It's not
20:33real. Nobody just loves me. They're
20:36always just being kind.'" "Sophie," I
20:39said, "I'm not being kind. I'm being
20:41completely selfish. I want you at my
20:44counter at 6:15 every morning for the
20:47rest of my life." She came around the
20:50work table and walked right into my
20:52arms. "I love you, Dylan," she whispered
20:54into my chest. "I loved you over the
20:57phone. I loved you in that closet full
20:59of sweaters, and I loved you in that
21:01snowstorm when you knocked over
21:03grandpa's chessboard." "That was an
21:05accident." "Best accident ever." And she
21:09kissed me right there in a Broadway
21:11costume shop surrounded by sequins and
21:14velvet and 20 seamstresses who started
21:17clapping and whistling like it was
21:19opening night. One of the older
21:21seamstresses wiped her eyes and said,
21:23"Honey, if you don't marry that man, I
21:25will." Sophie laughed and buried her
21:28face in my shirt. We figured it out.
21:31Sophie kept her Broadway job, but she
21:33turned Eddie's old study into a sewing
21:35room and took the train to New York two
21:38days a week for fittings. And on the
21:40other five days, at exactly 6:15, the
21:43bell over the diner door jingled. She
21:46sewed costumes for the Millbrook High
21:48Spring Musical. I taught her to make
21:51Eddie's favorite pancakes. She still
21:53flipped one onto the ceiling. We left it
21:55there for a week in his honor. On
21:58Tuesday nights, I closed early and we
22:00cooked together in the kitchen trying
22:02new recipes, a different menu every week
22:05like the restaurant I'd always dreamed
22:07about. "See," Sophie said licking sauce
22:10off a spoon, "you didn't give up your
22:13dream. You just needed someone to cook
22:15it with." One year after Eddie passed
22:17away, I asked Sophie to meet me at the
22:20diner at 6:15. She walked in and the
22:23whole diner was dark except for the
22:25string lights over the counter. On the
22:27end stool, Eddie's stool, sat his
22:30chessboard. Sophie walked over slowly
22:33and looked down. Then she gasped. All
22:36the pieces were gone except two. The
22:38black king lying on its side and the
22:41white queen standing in the center of
22:43the board. And balanced perfectly on top
22:46of the white queen's little crown was a
22:48small diamond ring. Sophie turned
22:51around. I was standing behind the
22:53counter wearing the dark blue apron with
22:56the little black knight on the pocket.
22:58"Your move." I said. She was already
23:01crying. I came around the counter and
23:03got down on one knee on the old
23:06checkered floor. "Sophie Russo." I said.
23:09"Your grandfather said I needed a wife.
23:12For 3 years I laughed, but he was right.
23:15He saw it before either of us did. I
23:17don't want any other move. I just want
23:20you at this counter every morning for
23:23the rest of our lives. Will you marry
23:26me?" She picked up the white queen and
23:28held it to her heart. "Checkmate." she
23:30whispered. "Is that a yes?" She dropped
23:33to her knees in front of me and kissed
23:35me. "Yes, Dylan. A thousand times yes."
23:39I slid the ring on her finger and at
23:41that exact moment the bell jingled. Mrs.
23:44Kaminski walked in for her morning
23:46toast, saw us on the floor, and dropped
23:49her purse. "Oh, thank goodness." she
23:51said pressing her hand to her chest.
23:54"Eddie owed me $20 on this bet." We got
23:57married that summer at Ross's Diner. Of
24:00course we did. We pushed back the
24:02booths, strung lights from the ceiling,
24:04and invited the whole town. Sophie made
24:07her own wedding dress. Every sequin was
24:10sewn by hand. And on the end stool where
24:13Eddie sat every morning for 3 years, we
24:16put his old gray sweater, a cup of black
24:19coffee, and a plate of rye toast with
24:22light butter.
24:24During the toasts, Mr. Fitzgerald stood
24:26up and raised his glass.
24:29"Eddie told me 2 years ago that he'd
24:31found the perfect man for his
24:32granddaughter. I asked him how he knew,
24:36and he said, 'Because the kid's been
24:38losing to me at chess every morning for
24:40a year, and he keeps coming back. A man
24:44who keeps showing up even when he's
24:46losing, that's the one.'"
24:49There wasn't a dry eye in the diner.
24:52Now, every morning at 6:15, Sophie sits
24:56on the end stool, black coffee, rye
24:59toast, light butter, eggs over easy. And
25:02between pancakes and refills, we play
25:05chess.
25:06She still beats me every time. And every
25:10morning before she leaves for her sewing
25:12room, she leans across the counter,
25:15kisses me, and whispers,
25:17"Your grandfather said you needed a
25:19wife." And every morning, I give her the
25:22same answer.
25:23"He wasn't wrong."
25:25So, tell me, have you ever had someone
25:28play matchmaker for you even after they
25:31were gone? Or have you ever fallen for
25:33someone before you even met them? Share
25:36your story in the comments. And if this
25:38story touched your heart, hit like,
25:40subscribe, and I'll see you in the next
25:42one.

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