I'll Fly AwayA Story by Emily B
Previous Version This is a previous version of I'll Fly Away. I was walking today and words to a song kept going through my head. Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away. When I die, Hallelujah by and by. I'll fly away. It's an old church hymn that I remember singing beside my parents before Sunday School and during Church service. Remembering the song, today, it occurred to me how often we fervently wish to fly away. Whether we feel intense happiness or fear, we so often wish to grow wings and soar to the heavens. I've read the thought many times here in this forum.
Last year, a co-worker’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. Norm took Louise to
Did I mention that I really didn't know Norm all that well before his wife got sick? He worked on second shift with my husband. And he was kind of an odd, old bird. I never really knew how to take his strange sense of humor. Well,
I remember one day, he squatted down by Rose Anne's desk to ask her something. When he left, she called me over. She said, “He wants me to stay with his wife so he can get away from IT for a little while.” It, meaning his wife's disease, of course. She said, “I can't do it.” I looked at her thoughtfully, going through my life for the next few days in my head. And I told her, “I can do it. Danny might have to work on Saturday, but if you'll watch my kids, I can go.”
When I walked away, I wondered if I could do it. It had been years since we went through the same type of cancer with my mother-in-law. I hadn't been around the sights and smells of the disease for a long time. I determined I would do it, I had to, Norm needed to get out for an hour or two. He needed to go sit in the park and watch the sun reflect off the lake. Or walk through the mall and watch strangers come and go. Anything, to give his brain a moment to slow down.
That was on Wednesday. On Thursday night, I got the kids to sleep. I watched TV. I found my way to bed about the usual time. Before I could even lay down, so I know I wasn't dreaming, I saw a picture. I saw angels, three of them, standing around a bed. I knew that it must be Louise. I wondered about the image for a long time that night. What would I do with what I saw? I woke up right away when Danny came home from his second shift job. I told him quietly what I had seen. We talked about Norm. He told me that Norm had been called home during the shift, Louise had to be taken to the hospital.
On Friday night, I called Norm to see if he needed anything. I hoped maybe she had been released from the hospital and I could fulfill my promise. It turned out, that what Norm really needed that night, was someone to talk to. He told me how supportive the parishioners of his church had been. How great they were to help with any little thing. He told me a lot of things that night. I wondered if I would ever get off the phone. All of a sudden, I knew he needed to hear something.
I talked to Norm about his faith. I asked him if he believed in angels. I told him what I saw, and that I felt like his wife might have been visited. He got really quiet for a minute. And I thought “oh, s**t, what have I done.” And he said, “My wife had three sisters. They have all passed on.” I started breathing again. I hadn't traumatized the man whose wife was terminally ill. We talked until he felt more at ease.
We never mentioned that conversation, Norm and me. When his wife passed, Rose Anne and Sharon and I rode together to the funeral home for the visitation. He hugged me tight for the longest time. I felt him holding on to what he knew. It was his lifeline in a sea of emotions. Those words helped him get through that day. They helped me, too.
Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away. When I die, Hallelujah by and by. I'll fly away.
© 2008 Emily BFeatured Review
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Added on February 5, 2008Last Updated on February 5, 2008 AuthorEmily BRichmond, KYAboutto the Lost Boys I am no Wendy; but my voice brings you back to me. And you sit around my feet, anxious for a story or a kiss. Listening to my words spinning adventures, like so much g.. more..Writing
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