Forever and Always

Her oldest son stood to her right and her youngest to her left. Sarah smiled and hooked her arm through theirs. They began walking down the dirt path that was lined with wildflowers beginning to sprout. The smell of honeysuckle from the vines wrapping themselves along the fence line drifted in the air.

Sarah's gown was made of a beautiful white satin. Due to her age she had traded in her heels for sneakers that were hidden beneath the length of her gown. She looked to the end of the path and saw her groom standing there waiting. This was their fiftieth wedding anniversary. She smiled when she recalled their first wedding.

It had been when they were ten years old. She had been full of youth and spunk. Her eyes had alighted upon Sam and she knew he was the man for her. Forever and always.

The children gathered underneath the two oak trees. They stood in the back of the schoolyard taunting them each day. Today the teachers attention was distracted by little Johnny having a seizure on the pavement.

Sarah looked over at Sam and grinned from ear to ear, "I bet I can climb farther than you can."

He scoffed at her, "You're just a girl." Hoots from the boys cheered him on. The girls looked shocked that Sarah was about to get her dress dirty. Their own mothers would have a fit.

"You don't think I can?" She asked.

"I know you can't, but we don't have long to try are you going to stand there and talk all recess or start climbing?"

"Oh, I'm going to climb but if you're so confident then let's make a bet." She said. When he nodded she laid out her terms, "If I win you have to marry me after school tomorrow in my backyard. If I lose I'll never come tagging along and bothering you when you're out playing with the boys again."

"That's a stupid bet." He thought about it for a moment. He got teased a lot for his neighbor Sarah tagging along all the time. She always wanted to be right in the thick of things. The real teasing started because she was better than him at boy things. She could throw a faster softball, she could swim to the other side of the pond faster, and she could outrun all of the boys when they raced. Finally, no more girls involved and he could stop feeling embarrassed by a girl. "But you're on."

The duet quickly began scampering up the trees. The kids below were starting to cheer them on. Sam looked over his branches and saw a teacher heading their way. Sarah noticed her about the same time as Sam. "Looks like we're about to get in trouble!" She called.

Sam started worrying about what his parents were going to say when they found out how he had broken the rules at school. He wasn't paying as much attention to his footing as he should have been. He felt the branch breaking a few seconds to late to properly catch himself. As he began to fall he glanced up to see that Sarah was yards ahead of him in the opposite tree. That was all he remembered before he hit the ground with a thump.

The next day the April sunshine broke through his window waking him from a restless sleep. He had a cast on his arm and remembered he'd broken it falling out of that stupid tree. Now he had lost a stupid bet and was about to get hitched to the most annoying little girl in school. He groaned.

When his mother came in to check on him he asked her where his tie was.

"It's Saturday not Sunday, dear."

"I know but I need it. I have a promise to keep."

She seemed questioning but she handed him the tie that was hanging in her closet. He put on his Sunday best and combed his hair down. He even borrowed some of his dad's aftershave. Then he went into the kitchen and over breakfast told his mom the whole story. She was laughing too hard to show any sympathy for his plight.

"If you think this is so stinking funny why don't you come to the wedding?" he growled at her. She wiped her hands on her apron and nodded silently.

"I made a cake for dessert but I suppose we might need a reception treat, let me call Sarah's mother and see if she has any tea." She answered.

Within the hour he and his mother stood on Sarah's porch. The two women were laughing and enjoying the entire charade way too much. If he heard the words "adorable", "cute", and "children" one more time before he said his vows he might scream. He was ushered out the back door to wait for his bride. Something about it being bad luck to see her while she got dressed.

Sitting on the back porch he heard girls giggling inside and knew that Sarah had invited some of her girlfriends to come watch. He sure wasn't inviting any of the fella's. This was embarrassing enough.

He had no sooner had that thought then Bob and Fred came around the corner of the house. "Julie called us so we had to come and watch this for ourselves!" they exclaimed.

That was it, he had enough. He yanked open the back door and yelled at the house, "If you don't want your groom to run away you better get yourself out here now before a man changes his mind!"

Suddenly the mothers appeared smiling and laughing. They ushered him out to the garden where he stood beside a flamingo. Julie came out next carrying a bouquet of fresh picked wildflowers and stood on the other side of him. Leaving enough space for Sarah.

But when Sarah came through that door, he was sure she was the prettiest girl he had ever laid eyes on. Even if she was annoying and played like a boy. She was wearing an Easter hat tied to her head, a white dress with green bows and ribbons all over it and carrying a larger version of the wildflower bouquet.

As Sam stood at the end of the garden path that used to belong to Sarah's mother he still thought his bride was the prettiest girl in the world. You could find younger girls, you could find girls that didn't have any gray on their heads, and you could find girls that didn't age. But those girls would never be his Sarah.

He recalled how when they were twenty years old they had made their marriage official. They had saved themselves for that fateful wedding night. Turns out they were both so tuckered out from their mothers fussing they didn't even consummate the marriage until two nights later. She was his first kiss. His first love. In all the years, that hadn't changed.

Every ten years they said their vows again. On a beautiful spring day when the wildflowers were in bloom. Because his Sarah refused to marry him if she couldn't have her wildflower bouquet. One year it snowed and he had to special order the wildflowers off the computer. His son had shown him how.

This would be their last wedding. He hadn't told his children yet. Nor had their mother. She was diagnosed with stage four cancer last week. Sarah didn't have much time left to give this world and Sam intended to make the most of it.

When she arrived at the altar their middle son officiated their vows. They were so proud of his ministry. He had become a preacher at a small, country church. For the last few weddings he had been the one to watch his parents say, "I do." This year when Sam's time came to say those two little words, he took Sarah's hands in his. He stared into her hazel eyes and said, "I do always and forever."

After he kissed his bride he turned and announced to the kids and grandkids that had gathered, "And my wedding gift is that for our honeymoon, I've already arranged it with the boys, your all going with us on a cruise."

Tears pooled in Sarah's eyes. She knew this gift, this last gift, was his way of making sure she had her family around her for as much of the suffering as possible. They would all be there until the end. Her sons formed a line behind them and the oldest cleared his throat.

"Mom, we know something is wrong. But we also know for years you were our strength. You cared for us until we were grown. Never were we sick that you didn't sit at our beds and take care of us. Never were we broken hearted that you didn't hug us and love us until it passed. Let us do this for you. Let us take care of you."

Sarah smiled through her tears, no matter how her life ended, she would be alright. She would be alright forever and always.