Memories that Last Forever

The shorty story, Memories that Last Forever, involves the Henderson family, a family that for a short time is living the ideal life until one tragic trip to Washington D.C. changes their life forever

Memories that Last Forever

Thursday morning I was having my usual black coffee by the beach. The sun was rising, making the sky different shades of yellow and orange, and the ocean waves were calm, as if they were barely waking up. I spot the mailman in front of my house, wondering why he is here so early in the morning, I head over to him. “Good morning Mr. Henderson, I have a package here for David” the mail man informs me. “Ah yes that’s my son, I’ll make sure to give it to him, thank you.” As the mailman leaves the porch, I take a seat on my comfortable, old chair that is facing the ocean view and examine the package. It’s quite heavy and has “fragile” in the front in all capital letters. I decide to open it, even though subconsciously I knew that it was none of my business. I unwrap what appears to be a digital photo album. To add to my guilty subconscious I go ahead and turn it on. The first image that appears is one of David and me on our trip to Washington D.C. we took two years ago in November. It suddenly occurs to me that David might be home any minute but I remember that he’s at work. The next image is an unexpected one that immediately brings goosebumps to my skin. The image shows one normal, happy family: David, me, and Diane, my wife. We were standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, it was snowing at the time and yet we all had the biggest smiles on our faces.

I set down the photo album before looking at another image and simply stare off into the blue ocean view and recall the life-changing incident that happened on our trip to Washington.

***

 “We're not traveling to Alaska, you don't need that five pound jacket” I tease Diane as we pack our suitcases for our trip. We were leaving first thing in the morning.

Thirty minutes later we arrive at the LAX airport. It is busier than ever for the Thanksgiving holiday. I overhear an employee arguing with a couple about their delayed flight and soon after a small crowd is gathering around the employee with unpleasant and annoyed expressions.

We board our flight that is around five hours, luckily I have the window seat. David is too busy listening to music and Diane is reading one of her weekly magazines she is subscribed to.

This whole Washington trip was really my idea  for a vacation, to let off some steam from work. It had been a couple of rough months at the office but that’s a whole other story in itself.

We land in Washington Friday morning since we were only staying the weekend because David has school and I have to go back to the office Monday morning. Right out of the airport my face is hits the cold, bitter winter air that one does not experience in California. The sun was shining through, although I always believed Washington was constantly cloudy and raining. A friend even told me once that the number one place with the greatest amount of suicides was Washington because of the depressing weather conditions.

The first thing I ask as we get out of the airport is,“Should we grab a bite to eat before going to my mother's?”

“What? No! Grandma makes the best food, more specifically the best breakfast.” David  responds and Diane says, “I second that.”

We drive up to my mother’s cozy house. She apparently has had the lawn recently mowed and the blue window curtains are wide open, revealing my father in the living room trying to find the football game channel.

“Lets leave the bags here. We’ll get them after we eat. I am starving. Those snacks they hand out during the flight are not nearly satisfying.”

“Yes I agree,” Diane quickly responds as my mother opens the front door with a wide smile on her face. “Oh how great that you guys are finally here! I just finished cooking breakfast. Come on in, it is freezing out here.”

“Thanks mom, we are famished. Those airplane snacks are like bags of oxygen, no pun intended.”

My mom’s house, like any parents house, had that warm and welcoming feel to it. The living room looked the same from the last time we visited, except for the one new wooden picture frame of the whole family last Christmas.

“Well, come in and take a seat at the dining table, while I set the breakfast down.” As I walked in, the set up reminded me of Christmas dinner, except it was the end of November.

“So what are your plans while here?” my father questions as he takes a sip of his black coffee. “We agreed on visiting the Lincoln Memorial and perhaps the White House as well.

The next morning we make the long-anticipated trip to the Lincoln Memorial. The weather was terrible, it was snowing profusely and it was difficult to see, yet we still decided to stick to the plan of taking a few pictures while admiring the scenery and quickly bolted once that was done.

***

We were facing the memorial, and even though we were all freezing the moment was perfect. This was the same picture I was staring at as I was having my coffee in front of the beach. And then I remembered how the car crash actually happened.

***

The snow was coming down harder as we were driving on the road back to my parent’s house after taking too many unnecessary photos at the Lincoln Memorial. The sky was pitch black and the air was less unwelcoming than before. Music was playing in the background, as David was falling asleep, and Diane was on the passenger side admiring the snow we don’t get to experience in California. Out of nowhere I see bright, fluorescent lights from the corner of my eye coming from Diane’s direction. I hear a loud screeching noise, metal contacting metal. My head is on the airbag when I open my eyes. I see glass shattered everywhere, on my coat, on the steering wheel, and on Diane’s face that I am too startled to look at. She is unconscious and there’s blood in the right side of her forehead. I then hear David in the back mumbling but all I can think about is how we were just in a car accident. The snow continues to fall as the truck driver that hit us comes stumbling out of his car completely confused.

“Oh my god, is everything alright? I’m calling an ambulance, everything will be okay.” The man attempts to help by going to Diane’s side door, she was still unconscious. After lying in the car seat for an hour, waiting for the ambulance to arrive, I could feel myself falling asleep due to the pain and the cold. The only thing going through my mind was if my family was okay? Am I going to survive this? Is my family going to survive this? But then I hear the frightening loud noises of the ambulance approaching us. Everything becomes a blur as four figures come to the car.

***

I open my eyes to to the fluorescent lights of the hospital room as the lights were moving one by one, faster and faster. There were doctors rushing all over the place, apparently we were in the emergency room. I grew frantic because I couldn't see Diane or David anywhere so I started shouting their names, “David! Diane! Where are you?” “Mr. Henderson, you need to calm down while we check for any head trauma” one of the nurses orders, as he shines a bright light in my eye. Suddenly I hear a hoarse voice coming from the other side of the curtain. “Dad I’m right here. Where’s mom?” And that’s when I spot her, quickly being rushed by three doctors out of the emergency room. “Where are you taking her?” I shout impatiently.  “Mr. Henderson unfortunately your wife has suffered serious head injuries and has to undergo surgery right away.” At that moment the room began spinning and I blacked out.

“Good morning Mr. Henderson,” the same nurse from last night greets me. “How are you feeling?” he asks as he starts checking my vitals and taking my heart rate. I then start remembering what happened last night. “How did my wife’s surgery go? Is she well? When will I be able to see her? What about my son, David? Is he okay?”

“Mr. Henderson you need to calm down. I'll check on your family right away.”

“Thank you, please I have to know if they're okay.” A few minutes pass by and the doctor walks in with a composed yet serious look on his face. “Alright Mr. Henderson your son David has fractured ribs and a few cuts but he is stable and doing well in a room three doors down from here.”

“What a relief. When can I see him?”

“As soon as I’m done checking your chart.” After the doctor is done he says that i only have a fractured right rib but that’s the least of my worries because all I want to know is that my wife and son are okay. “Alright Mr. Henderson we can go see your son now.” I slowly get up from the hospital bed and walk over to my son’s room. As I step into David’s room, I see him staring at ceiling while a prepaid program is playing on the small hospital tv. “Hey David. How are you feeling,?” I ask him, taking a seat on the chair next to his bed. “I’m alright dad. How’s mom?” The doctor stares down at the tiled floor and in that moment I knew something wasn’t right. “Mrs. Henderson underwent an extensive surgery last night, she was in a coma the rest of the night and unfortunately at four in the morning she died from head trauma. I am sorry for your loss.”

***

I look up from the picture and that’s where I stop remembering that tragic night. I hadn’t really taken the time to remember how everything happened two years ago until now. I was always trying to keep busy at the office, doing unnecessary repairments to the house, and spending time with David to keep myself from remembering. I hear David’s car in the driveway. I quickly try to put the album back to its original packaging that now seems more difficult to do than when I first took it out. After putting all the unnecessary bubble wrap back in the box, I set it next to the door, where the mailman usually leaves all our packages.

“Hey dad, how was your day off?” David asks as he approaches the front porch. “It was pretty relaxing. How about your day at work?”I question. “It wasn't too busy except for this one customer that started screaming at me and asked to speak with the manager. Anyways I’m gonna go take a quick shower.”

“Before you go a package arrived for you.” David glances at the package and stares back at me with a suspicious look. “Did you open it?” he asks cautiously. “Nope,” I reply as casually as can be. He grabs the box and heads inside.

The next morning I awake to the sound of my alarm clock, which I had forgotten to turn off since I didn't work today because it was my birthday. I head to the kitchen for some breakfast and find David sitting in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal. “Good morning,” I say as I serve myself some cereal. “Good morning dad. What are the plans for your birthday today?” he asks while scrolling through his phone. “Well I didn't really give it much thought.” David takes a spoonful of cereal as i sit across from him and suggests watching the football game and ordering pizza.

***

“What kind should I order?” David asks as he places his phone on his ear. “How about one pepperoni and one cheese?” I suggest. “Alright sounds good to me.” David places the order while I turn on the tv to the super bowl game. “Should be ready in ten minutes” David hollers from the kitchen. A couple minutes later there’s a knock at the door. I open it to find the pizza delivery guy. “Hi, I have two pizzas here for David?” he states and questions at the same time.

“The game is about to start!” David hollers from the living room. I quickly set the pizza down on the living room table. “Alright let’s do this!” David begins cheering as we start eating the first slice. By half-time nearly all the pizza has disappeared and the team we’re rooting for is in the lead by three touchdowns. Eventually, by the end of the game our team ends up losing.

David disappears into the kitchen and comes back with a present in his hands. “That’s no way to end a birthday celebration. Happy birthday dad,” he says as he hands me his gift and gives me a hug. I wasn’t expecting a present from David and the look on my face showed that. “Open it” David urges me. I begin unwrapping it and see the words “fragile” in all capital letters and in this moment I get a gut feeling that I know exactly what my present is. I open up the same box from the morning and take out the digital photo album. All the pictures from the trip and even older ones that i didn’t see before come up. “Wow this is great David. Thank you” I say.  We decide to connect the photo album to the tv and we spend the rest of the night watching old family videos and looking at family pictures, ending with the picture we took at the Lincoln Memorial.