Tuesday, August 6, 2013

~ Picture It & Write! - Water's Edge

Water's Edge
(A short story)

Today would have been her twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Yolanda Dean never expected to celebrate it by herself. They had made plans now that both kids were graduated and in college to travel a little. They, she and her husband, Lonnie, loved sunsets over water. They had traveled all over the west side of the state of Michigan taking pictures of the sunsets, entire walls showcased the beauty of Lake Michigan. It had all started with their honeymoon in Holland, Michigan.

Now, she sat here on the edge of the Pacific Ocean looking at the most vibrant colors they'd seen this year. But Lonnie's chair was empty.  She wouldn't cry. It had only been a month since his passing. It was so sudden, so unexpected. The kids told her to come and not let the tickets go to waste. 

sunset-jar
Ermilia's ~Picture it & Write! Click the picture to learn more.
Her mother was sitting back in the hotel. Yolanda asked her to let her do this alone. Standing at the water's edge, she held his urn tightly. It was time to release his ashes per his request to be scattered over water during a beautiful sunset. Tears flowed down her lined checks, lines that weren't there a month ago. 

"Goodbye, my love!" Yolanda tried to let go. She cried harder. "Sorry, my love! You're coming home with me. I'll let you go over our beloved lake which isn't this far away from me." Hugging the urn sitting down in her borrowed beach chair, she picked up her bottle of iced cappuccino and drained it. Resting the bottle on her knee, the sunset magnified. She felt God and Lonnie smiling down at her.