Goodbye
As I look out the small window in front of me, I can see the edge of the earth fading away as it curves out of sight.
I think the pilot said we were cruising at 32,000 feet.
The sun is making long shadows across the landscape below.
I can’t see the sun from our level due to a cloud bank that sits below us but through holes in the clouds I can see its reach.
Lisa is sleeping with her head on my shoulder.
We have made this trip many times, but this time is different.
This time, we both wished we didn’t have to go.
He has been gone a little over a week.
We got the call one evening as we were watching TV after work.
He finished mowing his lawn and sat in his chair on the back porch to rest. One minute he was there and the next he was gone.
He slipped off to sleep and never woke up.
He was one of my closest friends for almost 30 years.
Although older than me and almost 80 years of age, he was always healthy and happy and for the most part, had no real health issues for his age.
He simply left us in the blink of an eye.
No time to say goodbye.
No time to tell him what he meant to me.
No time for one more hug.
No more laughs
No more memories to make.
No more restaurants to visit.
Here one minute, gone the next.
Simply no more time.
As we near our destination, Dayton Ohio, the sun shows itself for the first time in a long time.
At the moment it appears, I see this special little rainbow out my window.
No one else on the plane seems to notice, no one comments on the beauty of the small but bright rainbow.
Maybe it was meant for me to see and only me.
My heart wants to believe that my friend was welcoming me back to Ohio one last time.
My head knows better, but today I am letting my heart win.
As I look at the beautiful rainbow sitting among the clouds I quietly whisper,
“Hello old friend, I have come to say goodbye.”
Dennis Ray Becker November 12, 1942 – April 12, 2022.
