THE ANNIVERSARY

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Note: This story is just one of seventeen taken from a novel by JAlexander called “SHIPWRECK”

“Hurry up honey, the limo will be here in twenty minutes and they charge extra if we make them wait!” Cindy stuck her head out of the bathroom door and hollered, “What are you going to do if it takes me another hour? Maybe you’re planning on going without me?” Ronnie just shook his head and out loud he said, “It’s the same every year.”

Then he heard Cindy’s voice again, “I’m listening sweetheart; what did you say?” With a little smile Ronnie hollered back, “I said, I can’t wait to have a beer.”

This time, Cindy came out of the bathroom and with her hands on her hips; she gave Ronnie a look that made his blood run cold. As he backed out of the bedroom, he smiled and said, “Don’t worry honey, I will wait downstairs and you take as much time as you need.”

Ronnie started to panic a little when he glanced at his watch and realized that the limo would be there in a very few minutes. His first idea was to yell at Cindy and tell her it was time for them to be ready, but then he decided to go upstairs and see what she was doing.

He saw his dear wife Cindy in the doorway of their bedroom, holding two pictures in her shaking hands and he could instantly feel her pain. She didn’t look up as Ronnie walked over and stood beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“You’re a great wife and Mother and I thank God every day for sending you to me. We will never know why God takes one child home and leaves the other one in this world. You certainly cannot blame yourself for the car accident that took our son Jimmy, but left Eddy without a scratch. It’s been five years and all of us need to move on. We also need to reach out to the son we still have. We are his parents and we can feel the pain he is going through. He has told us many times that it should have been him and not his brother who should have died that day. We certainly are aware that our dear Eddy joined the army, putting himself in harm’s way, so that God could take him home and he and Jimmy could be together once again.”

Reaching down and taking the pictures from Cindy’s trembling hands, Ronnie placed them on the night table. Ronnie held her hand as he helped her up and laughingly said that he would have to take out a second mortgage to pay for this year’s anniversary celebration.

“Please, just give me a moment to freshen up and I’ll be okay. You go down and tell the driver if he gives you a hard time that he will have to answer to me.”

“Wow, can you just believe that it is one o’clock in the morning and that stupid alarm clock will be ringing in a few hours! I don’t want to look all frazzled when we get to Church. You know, honey, how some people love to talk.”

TWO WEEKS LATER

“Good morning sleepy head. I noticed how you are moving a little slowly today; are you feeling okay? Actually, Ronnie, you are looking a little pale. Do you want to call in sick?”

“Oh no, I’ll be okay. It’s probably something that I ate yesterday, no need to fuss.”
After Ronnie left for work, Cindy had a feeling that something was wrong, so after she cleaned up the kitchen, she decided to go for a little walk and would have a little talk with God. He would be able to reassure her that everything was going to be alright. She didn’t know at that moment, but her life would change that day and never ever be the same again.

Cindy’s heart skipped a beat when the phone rang, because she knew in her heart that it would not be good news. She couldn’t stop her hand from shaking as she picked up the receiver and said hello.

“Hi Cindy, this is Doug Matthews, Ronnie’s boss. We just called an ambulance as we believe Ronnie is having a heart attack. They will be taking him to St. Helen’s General. I’ll be going with him so we will meet there.”

Cindy couldn’t stop crying and was almost hyperventilating when she walked up the steps and into the emergency room. As she entered the room, she saw Doug sitting there and she asked how Ronnie was doing and if she would be able to go and see him.

“Actually, Cindy, they took him right into the OR, so we will have to wait until one of the doctors come out to give us an update.”

When Cindy’s tears stopped, worry set in as a million things coursed through her mind. Things like her and Ronnie just making plans to go on a cruise to the Greek Islands and yesterday, they bought Ronnie a box of his favorite cereal, and it was the kind she didn’t like.

Everything happened so fast and within two days, the love of Cindy’s life was gone when God called him home to be with their son Jimmy. Although both Ronnie’s and her family were there for her, Cindy felt totally alone until the day her son Eddy arrived home from Iraq. His short stay at home didn’t last nearly long enough. He only had a few days at home and then had to return back to his unit.

Cindy never wanted to talk about the army life that Eddy chose as his career. She did know that the pain that her son endured was also her pain. Cindy was determined not to lose her only son, so, she spent every minute with him while he was at home, trying to make up for lost time. She wanted, no needed, to know who her son was and wanted to show him how much she loved him and that they needed each other if they were going to get through this ordeal and move on with their lives.

Eddy shared everything with his Mom, how he felt about Jimmy, choosing the army, and how he shut her and his Dad out so he wouldn’t have to deal with reality. He did confess to his Mom, that over the past few months, he found himself thinking a lot about God and how happy he had been as a young boy when Church was a big part of his life. He shared with his Mom how he blamed God for taking his only brother and that he felt it was very unfair.

There had been a change in the departure time of Eddy’s flight, so there wasn’t much time for long and sad goodbyes. It was very hard on both of them so the least time they spent dwelling on their loss, the better for both of them. Besides, there would be plenty of time in the future months and years to reflect on the way things are and how they might have been.

Eddy had only been gone a few months when Cindy received a call that he had been injured while on maneuvers. Apparently, his truck ran over a roadside bomb. The good news was that no one lost their life, but Eddy was in the hospital undergoing surgery.

After months of rehabilitation, he was sent back to the US for more rehabilitation and then was discharged with honors and was decorated by the Secretary of Defense and once again returned to civilian life.

On November 25th, 2002, Cindy received a bouquet of roses and quickly realized that this was her wedding anniversary.

About an hour later, she received a phone call. It was Eddy and he asked her to go to the front door and said he had a surprise for her. Cindy’s heart skipped a beat when she looked outside and saw a white van. When the side door of the van opened, a ramp appeared and there was her son in a wheelchair. Instantly she started crying as she ran down the driveway to hold her baby.

God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. Life has a way of interfering with our plans and dreams, but God lets us know that it is his will that determines everything.

There is a saying; If you want to make God smile, tell him your plans.

John 15:5 – Apart from me, you can do nothing!

BY JALEXANDER