Chapter
Ten
(While Jonathan is
away, my friend, Anne is readying the cottage for the realtor’s
sale. This unexpected vacation has afforded her time to finalize her
decision about the cottage, and it has also kept her busy in thought
during the process. )
Meanwhile, Jonathan
meets with law enforcement officials to claim his parent’s
possessions. The luggage had washed ashore soon after the plane
crashed, and the two cases were found not too far apart. They had
been found by a person from a small village just outside of Paris
where the beach fronted his property. It was the man’s dying wish
(and to get right with his god before his death) that his daughter
promise that the luggage be returned to the rightful owners.
After a voluminous and
involved amount of paperwork, signatures, and legality involved with
trips to law offices, Jonathan requested to visit the area and meet
with the old man’s daughter.
The daughter was very
apologetic for what her father had done by keeping the luggage all
these years, and asked Jonathan for his forgiveness. She explained
how her father said he had struggled with the guilt for having found
and kept the belongings of Jonathan’s parents. He knew it was
morally wrong to have kept the cases.
He had done so, because
they had been so poor…..he had thought in the future if need be, it
would allow him to help care for his family.
The only pleasure and
enjoyment the old man had experienced while hoarding the
possessions…..had been the occasional removal of the cases from the
attic hiding place to view the beauty of the fine jewelry and
clothing.
The daughter showed
Jonathan the approximate area where her father had told her the cases
had washed ashore. He asked to be alone while he walked the beach.
In deep thought…..and in much emotional pain…..he walked the
beach remembering his loving parents, and his life with them back in
Bedford.
Before leaving the
area, Jonathan said to the daughter, “Thank you for respecting your
father’s wishes. Because you complied with his request, I can
finally have closure.” He asked her to please accept a check he
had written as a just
reward in memory of his loving parents, and her father. The
daughter, who was about Jonathan’s age, and so guilt ridden by her
father’s revealing confession on his death bed, refused the gesture
of kindness.
Jonathan is pleased to
finally have closure about his parent’s death, but as he crosses
the vast ocean for home…..he is reminded once again of his parent’s
tragically lost lives……somewhere in the depths of the ocean floor
below him. After a while, his thoughts immediately turn to Anne. He
thinks how much his parents would have loved her, and wishes they
could have met.
Upon arriving at his
Bedford estate, he again looks through his parent’s elegant
possessions. He opens the jewelry pouch, and fingers the things that
had belonged to his mother. His eyes find the diamond encrusted
opal ring, a dainty bracelet with blue sapphires in two tones of
gold, and several jeweled dress pins. The pouch also contains his
father’s watch and fob which he never wore during travel, a diamond
stick pin, and a pair of gold and diamond cuff links.
Also, found in the
suitcases were the usual business papers from their business
ventures, and a document showing the purchase of a chalet in Paris.
It was not too far from the village where the luggage had washed
ashore.
Pausing, he picks up
the phone to call Anne, but replaces the receiver to its position,
runs out the door to his car, and drives full speed to town. On the
way, he phones Anne to announce his arrival. Receiving no answer,
he sadly turns the car around and heads back to his home. (You see,
he doesn’t know my friend, Anne is out of town and at her beach
cottage)
When my friend, Anne
returns a few days later…..she is awakened by a ringing phone.
Hello, Jonathan! When did you return to Bedford? Yes, give me about
an hour, and I’ll be right there!
(I’ll let her tell
you what happened from here) I quickly dress, grab a cup of coffee,
and have no desire to search out butterflies as I race
through town to his
estate. He sounded as though whatever it is…..must be quite
urgent.
When I arrive, he runs
out to meet me, whirls me around headed for the front door, and
quickly whisk me inside. In the study, I find scattered on and about
the desk what appears to be some kind of wrinkled water stained
business documents, and a travel jewelry pouch. He relates to me all
that had transpired while explaining the documents, and showing me
the contents of the pouch.
I admired his mother’s
jewelry realizing the sentimental significance to Jonathan. He
removes the diamond and opal ring still remaining in the pouch,
places it on my finger while asking if I would please do him the
honor of becoming his wife to make his life complete.
(Today, just one year
later, our wedding is being held at the screened-in gazebo where we
picnicked by the river. It is a beautiful sunny clear afternoon
with a delicate light breeze. It is a small affair with a
completely healed and cured “W.T.” and his wife, a few other
close friends, his entire staff, Rowan, and the florist deliveryman.)
At the small wedding
reception, Jonathan takes me aside and gives me two small envelopes
as his wedding gifts to me. He says, “Anne, it is with much love
for the first time in my life, and with great affection that I give
you these tokens of that love.” I quizzically open the first
envelope finding a key to the small Parisian chalet which had
belonged to his parents. In the other envelope, is a key to property
purchased through his investment management company, (sight unseen
as sometimes happens) Yes, Jonathan had unknowingly purchased as an
investment…..my beloved beach cottage!
(As Anne's friend, I
will tell you what happened from here) At the close of Anne and
Jonathan’s wedding ceremony there is just one more surprise. Anne
is delirious with emotions as hundreds of butterflies from Jonathan’s
s butterfly garden are released into the sky! He turned to her
saying, “They are a symbol of releasing all our past emotional
pain. They symbolize our new life cycle of happiness with my vows to
honor you, to love you, and to respect you……for an unimagined
love and future traveled as one for the rest of our lives.”
I do hope you have
enjoyed reading about my dear friend, the sister I love, and the
couple who together “Released their butterflies to the sky.”
Sheryl
P.S.
“Remember, just
because you feel flawed with whatever is bothering you in life…..you
are still beautiful even though you feel you have a broken wing.”
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