A time to remember

By Carl M. Namahoe

The drive home was filled with the thoughts of the day and the wonderful time spent with friends. But through it all, his mind drifted to times when he and his wife enjoyed moments like these together. He began to tear up and would give anything just to hold her one more time. She passed a week after celebrating their 57^th wedding anniversary.

He turned onto the driveway of the house they had shared for the past 37 years, driving pass the “SOLD” sign posted on their front lawn. He parked the car in the garage and went into the house that was once filled with her laughter and her singing. But now it seemed like all the life was gone.

She’s been gone for a year now and everything in the house was just the way it was when she died. He couldn’t bring himself to move anything…the pain was too great.

For you see, they had known each other since kindergarten and one day on the play ground she told him “Homer, I’m going to marry you one day!” The memory of that time brought tears to his eyes and he began to weep.

He recalled the day she died, and as he held her hand for the last time he screamed his displeasure to God. There before him lay the lifeless body of the woman God had given to him and now she was gone, separated from him and the pain was overwhelming.

Through his tirade at God, he began to reflect about God and His Son and their separation. While still holding his wife’s hand, he fell to his knees and asks God to forgive him.

He began to compare his love for his wife to that of God’s love for His Son and wondered if God suffered the same pain that he did.

The early morning Sun light woke him, as he had once again fallen asleep in his favorite chair. He looked around the room at all the boxes of memories that were soon to be loaded on the moving truck, destined for Turnberry. He had promise his wife that he would sell the house and move closer to their children and grandchildren…and today was moving day.

The moving truck had been gone nearly an hour and he’d left his key to the house on the kitchen counter. He’d spent the last hour remembering the day they moved in, and now he is moving on…without her. As tears rolls down his cheeks he can feel her hand in his as if to say…it’s okay.

He starts his truck and takes one last look at “A Time to Remember” and drives away.