CHAPTER TEN #3
Christy looks up at me and smiles. “All having sleepovers with a variety of family members. The boys are going to a game, and the girls are having a sleepover at Kierstie’s.
” I kiss my wife again. “So what you’re telling me is that we have the house to ourselves till morning? ” I get a smiling nod in return.
I look at the table. “Will dinner keep for a while?” Christy nods and tilts her head at me, always trying to figure out what I’m thinking, but I doubt she’d guess this.
I take my phone out and open the music app.
I take her hand in mine as I walk over to the shelf and connect my phone to the speakers.
I cue up the song I want and turn to the love of my life.
“I want to dance with my wife.” I get the blush that covers her cheeks whenever she’s surprised.
I love doing that. I pull her into my arms and start to sway as the song comes on.
I watch her face as she recognizes the song playing.
I played it for her the night I asked her to marry me.
It was a song that not only told her that she’d been mine since the moment I picked her up to take her off that mountain, but that I’d be hers for the rest of this life and whatever comes after as well.
I wouldn’t have it as our first song because, to me, it was a truth and a vow just between us, and I haven’t doubted it one moment since then. We’ve had good times and bad, and I know we’ll have more of both together in the future. She’s my person.
We slowly sway in our living room, surrounded by proof of our love and commitment to each other. Christy leans her head on my chest, and I know she’s remembering the first time I played this for her.
So I do what I did that night, I sing the lyrics that mean the most to me.
I’ve never been a wordsmith, but even if I were, I don’t think I could say it any better.
“That first morning we locked eyes, I made a vow that you'd be mine…” The music is a reminder of how many years we’ve had together, and it’s also a promise for the years we still have left.
Her tears fall onto my chest, but knowing my love, I don’t stop swaying or singing.
The love of my life has a depth of emotions and heart that still surprises me to this day.
Her capacity to love is endless, and her heart has room for more.
I thank the gods daily that we’re growing gray together.
There’s no one else I can imagine sitting next to at the end of this life.
The song draws near the end, and I sing the last lines, making the vow I’ve made to her every day for the last twenty years. “I'll be with you as you go…I’ll be with you all the way.”
Christy turns to look at me, tears streaming down her face as she smiles.
I reach up and wipe them away with my thumbs.
She looks at me, still letting the tears fall.
“I’m so thankful it was you who rescued me that day.
You rescued me in more ways than I could ever say in words.
You’ve made loving you the easiest thing I’ve ever done.
I love you more today than I did yesterday, and I love living our life together.
I love our family, and I love us. Thank you for loving me.
I’ll be with you all the way…in this life and whatever comes after.
” We danced till the candles burned out that night… .
EPILOGUE TWO
Many decades later…
Christy
Max passed on a Wednesday. It was just a month after his eighty-fourth birthday.
He’d been diagnosed with stage-four cancer the year before and chose not to fight it, telling everyone that at his age, he wanted his last bit of time here on earth to be happy and enjoyable and not at constant doctor appointments.
He’d told me his decision and that he didn’t want to think about leaving me behind, but that he’d be waiting for me to join him.
We went fishing, ate his favorite meals, and spent countless hours with family.
He went to take a nap that Wednesday afternoon and never woke back up.
His funeral was a packed house, a testament not only to the number of people he helped over the years but also to the kind of man he was.
The last couple of years have been lonely without him, but our kids and grandkids do their best to keep me busy.
This afternoon, the kids are coming over.
My boys will find something to fix, and my girls will make something in the kitchen, insisting they leave me plenty of prepared meals to eat for the week.
This morning I feel the quiet. Some days it’s louder than others.
On days like today, I bring my coffee into our backroom, sitting in Max’s favorite recliner.
I pull a worn envelope out of my robe pocket and recline the chair after I set my coffee down next to me.
I take the paper out of the envelope and reread the letter.
Christy,
You know, if I had been a better planner, I would have written you a note on so many of the milestones we’ve shared in our lives.
Our wedding, the birth of all of our kids, our special anniversaries, or any of the many birthdays we’ve shared together.
But, alas, this idea never came to me until today, the fiftieth anniversary of the day we met.
Today, I felt the need to put down on paper some thoughts to share. You know my words fail me so often when not in the courtroom, but I thought this way they might stick around.
My memory may be slowly fading, but I remember the first moment we met-when our eyes first met, I knew the gods had brought you to me.
I knew you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever met.
That first smile you gave me? That is as clear to me today as it was then, mostly because I’ve been the luckiest man on earth to get to see it every day.
You have made my life infinitely more enriched, more exciting, and more filled with love than I could ever have hoped for.
I remember as a young man watching my siblings fall in love and wishing I could have just a sliver of that.
I grew up watching Ma and Pa’s unwavering love and commitment to each other.
What I didn’t know was that I would have a love and friendship that not only matched theirs, but in my eyes, surpassed it.
You have been my love, my partner, my friend, my everything. I know when my time on earth here is over, that my love for you won’t stop. Our love is eternal, and I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.
Thank you for giving me a life, a love, and a family that most people would envy. You’ve made me a better man, husband, father, and grandpop. Here’s to more years together and more memories made.
I love you more every day and with every breath I take.
Love you,
Max
I’ve read that letter countless times since his passing, but today it gives me a peace I can’t explain.
I lean my head back and close my eyes, my mind taking me back to that day all those years ago.
The day that we met. The day Max helped me rescue myself.
I let my thoughts go and just try to feel his presence. I feel myself drifting off to sleep.
I open my eyes, and I’m greeted with the best view ever. Max is standing right in front of me with a smile on his face. He looks exactly like he did the day we met. He holds his hand out to me. “I’ve been waiting for you. Knew you would come eventually.”