Beacon of Life

ll

the Dar

ngto

lian figured he was thinking of all the times he had come here and his father had met and joyfully

ter and I were in school o

rry," s

ve a mother.” he quickly answered. But she could hear the hurt in his voice.

d they ran into a coffee shop for shelter and hot chocolate. Her mother, never one to give up, managed to sell all the cookies to the customers in the coffee

"Let's go in." The subjec

was sitting in the recliner and Tom’s fear was realized. His father was dead. Stoically, Tom said,” We need to bury h

Navy Whites. There were also pictures of a young girl with him. Jillian figured they must be his sister, but why were there only pictures

eyes red and swollen. “Ca

er the grave. He then spoke of his father and all that he had

and squeezed her hand. They stood that way, quietly, for a while. Jillian gently removed her hand and said, “We need to go. I want to get the supplies lo

supplies doesn't make much sense. We will need to a

lashlights, et cetera.” Tom said. “Also, what if we stayed here tonight, and got an early start in the morning? We could have dinner here, get a g

g in your dad’s house overnight. I wa

ng back. But I have so many wonderful memories of

ou can use this bathroom. I’ll sleep in my old room and use the b

d she could help relieve his grief somehow. But she kn

, we can meet in the kitchen and

go straight to bed. So, we can get an ea

by preparing spaghetti sauce over the pan; it's rich tomato-ey aroma filling the kitchen. Once the food was prepared, Jillian set the table while Tom

ed and get to bed.”Jillian s

plate on the counter. "Let’s

asses, he smiled sadly. “He would have swirled it like this and said something like, ‘smell that great aroma.’ I would reply ‘I ca

e need to get up and pack

ags and added them to the pile. Tom quickly added ammunition to his backpack and added a holster to the pile. He would put it on befo

e guest room. He hesitated. "It seems wrong to say thi

g at Tom in the hallway, Jil

a

the Day o

reesb

et in Monterey and figure out what to do f

have to do first. I hav

ice. “We love you. Set your GPS for Point Pinos Lightho

moved aside the hammock under the big oak tree. Jim had loved to lie there after work with a cold beer beside him. Often, he had little Chris laying on hi

ms, they would get to them no matter what. Tanya sank to the ground with deep gulping sobs. She didn't think she could bear it. She grabbed her cell phone, as if grabbing a

ine how hard this is for you. But remember, their bodies are just shells. The worms can't get

u. I need to get back to it before it gets too dark. T

a answered. And then wondered how an

thing for them. She wondered how she was going to get Jim outside. He was big. He had been a football star in college and she was only 5’3” and 119 pounds. Finally

d her back and legs when she was pregnant. “I’m as

tease. She sometimes threw a pillow at him, and he would pull her

got up and dragged him the rest of the way to the hole she had dug. Kissing him gently, she rolled him into it. Oh no, sh

hypoglycemic. After going into the kitchen and getting a glass of orange juice, she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwi

'. She thought of all the firsts she would never see–his first steps, his first day of school, his first football game, his first girlfriend, and hi

anket, she put him in Jim’s arms. She tucked his teddy bear in with them. “Sleep tight my loves and know I’ll see you again in paradise.” Wait!. She couldn’t just throw dirt on them. Gettin

hole in the groun

w she should say more, but her mind was so numb with grief, she couldn't think. But she knew God could read her

she couldn't pack that night. Putting on one of Jim’s tee shirts to smell him close to her o