Some Closure

Later in my life, I was caring for a man; his name was Abe. I found out that he worked side by side with my dad on many jobs. I was caring for him for about a year; while his daughter was working, I would go stay with him. We talked a lot about my dad; I learned things I would not have ever known about my dad if it weren’t for him-hearing all kinds of stories, special things he did, and how everyone liked him. Just before he passed, he told me that he would be seeing my dad soon. I knew what he meant. I took his hand and held it tight. I asked him, “When you see him, can you tell him something for me?”

He said, “Of course, I will.”

Then I told him, “Just tell him I am okay, and I do miss him, and I love him.”

His answer was, “I don’t think I have to tell him these things because I am sure he already knows, but I will tell him. I promise.” He then squeezed my hand harder, and then he went off to sleep.

I never saw Abe again. I wanted to go to his funeral, but they had a private service for him.

That same day, I was going to the church to speak to the minister, and I saw the family in the graveyard. I did not go over till after my meeting, and they were all gone. I said my goodbyes to him and said, “Remember your promise.” At that very moment, I got a chill, and I began to cry. I felt so much love around me. I closed my eyes, and I saw in my mind Abe and my dad standing around me. This moment in time, I feel, helped me a lot; it gave me some closure. I said goodbye to Abe and my dad that day. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the Maltese cross, in red, from the fire department. I took one of the carnations from the cross and held it tight.

After I took the flower, there was someone coming over to me; it was Abe’s daughter. She saw me there and was coming to see me. She said she was sorry that they did not call me for Abe’s service. She then told me that he had a special spot in his heart for me. She then told me that when she got home from work, her father always talked about me and that I was a special person, and he was glad every time I came over to be with him.

Abe and I had a great time being together talking about the past, but what I did not know was that he spoke of me to his daughter. Times like this, I feel it was fate that put us together, being that Abe and my dad worked together many times and for me to get to know my dad when he was alive a little bit more.

I will always have a special spot in my heart for Abe, for he told me a lot of stories about working with my dad. Stories I had never heard before, and all were fun to hear. Just an example: on Halloween one year, the police pulled my dad over in his car and asked him what his plans for the wood in the trunk were. Abe told me he had to come up with a quick story. He told the officer that he had gotten the wood to bring home to do some odds and ends. The officer said, “Yes, of course,” with disbelief in his voice. So my dad drove off, and he then had to bring the wood home and return it to the dump the next day. They had something in the plans for that wood, but now he could not do what was planned, for the police officer had seen the wood. If they set it up on the traffic circle as they were planning, the police would know where the planks came from. So the next day, Dad returned the wood back to the dump.

My dad had a short but full life; he had a lot of friends. Abe told me that everyone liked my dad, and he never heard anyone say a bad thing about him.