The Shell

It was the perfect January day at the beach in Cabo Frio in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as John and Sara relaxed shaded by a big green and yellow striped umbrella. It was the first day of their honeymoon and they were pleased to have some time to relax after the hectic trip. They spent 30 hours traveling after the wedding and were tired of all airports, cramped airplane seats, and taxi cabs. After finally arriving at their hotel and checking in they dropped their luggage off in their hotel room, changed, and headed down to the beach to relax.

It was a hot 45 degrees Celsius as John and Sara hid from the sun drinking coconut water. "John" said Sara. "Yes my dear?" replied John. "Let's have some fun!" said Sara. "What would you like to do?" asked John. "Let's go look for sea shells in the ocean!" exclaimed Sara. John agreed and they walked across the fluffy white beach sand and into the blue ocean. Suddenly Sara stopped and exclaimed "John look at that...isn't it beautiful?" John looked down and noticed a beautiful sea shell the size of an orange. It was a pearly white color with a hint of pink. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" asked Sara. "Only you my dear" replied John. "We have to keep it John" said Sara smiling at John's comment. John agreed and picked it up off of the sandy ocean floor. John and Sara then continued searching the ocean bottom for more beautiful shells. They spent half the day laughing and playing as they searched for shells and although they found many none could match the first shell. As the sun began to set they headed back to the hotel to change and go to dinner.

They ate at a very nice seafood restaurant on the beach as they talked about the fun day they shared together. John and Sara were very happy together. After dinner they returned to their hotel and happily spent their first night together as a married couple. John and Sara spent the rest of the week at the beach laughing and playing while searching for shells but never did find a better shell. At night they would hold each other and talk about the fun they had during the day and profess their undying love for one another. At the end of the week they returned home to Salt Lake City, Utah to begin their married life together.

John and Sara were still very happy together and things were going well for them. They spent many nights remembering their wonderful honeymoon. They would talk and look at their pictures, but their favorite thing to do was to look at all of the shells that they collected together. It was a year after their honeymoon when Sara began getting sick. She was diagnosed with an advanced stage of terminal cancer and didn't have much time left. John and Sara were devastated. They were so happy together and had looked forward to sharing their lives together. They wanted to do many of the things that they had enjoyed together, but most of all they wanted to go back to their beloved beach one last time. They made arrangements to return to Cabo Frio as soon as they could, but Sara became too sick and weak and passed away a week before their trip.

Sara's last words to John as he held her in his arms were, "I love you John with all of my heart and will always cherish our time at the beach and the sea shells... especially our perfect sea shell." John with tears in his eyes replied "I will always love you too Sara...and I will always remember the beach...and the most precious sea shell of all...you. You are my perfect sea shell Sara and I will miss you so much!" Sara smiling and crying reached up with the last energy left in her body and hugged John. They held each other and kissed as she passed away.

It was shortly after the funeral when John was sitting home alone mourning that he noticed something on the book shelf where they kept their memories. He walked to the book shelf to find a note attached to their perfect shell. He opened it and it read,

"Dear John, I love you with all of my heart. I never forgot when you told me that I was the only thing more beautiful than our sea shell. I am so happy to have you as my husband and I want you to know that you are my perfect sea shell! I'm sorry that our time together was so short, but I'm glad we shared it together. I promise that I will wait for you on the beaches of heaven until it is time for us to search for sea shells again. Until then I will be forever loving and missing you. Your loving wife, Sara."

Many years later John lay on his death bed lonely and dreaming of sea shells. As he drifted in and out of consciousness he could almost smell the salty air and feel the sand on his feet. Suddenly he was at the beach looking at two beach chairs covered by a large green and yellow striped umbrella. As he approached the chairs he heard a familiar voice in the distance. It was Sara and she was calling him. "John....over here" Sara yelled. As he ran to her he noticed that she looked exactly as she did those many years ago on that very special beach.

They embraced as they met one another. They both were smiling and teary eyed. Sara exclaimed "I have been waiting for you for so long and have missed you so very much!" John replied "I have long waited for the day when we would be together again my precious sea shell! I love you!" They embraced one another and kissed as the sunset on the beautiful beach on that perfect day in the month of January.