True Love Won't Be Denied

The rain falling coldly outside her bedroom window was nothing compared to that which fell inside Laura's heart. She knew she should be dressing for the funeral, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't force herself away from the scene below.

People were scurrying in and out of her house like ants, bringing food in for the long, dry spell she knew would soon follow. She had no urge to speak to any of them. She couldn't tolerate their hollow words of sympathy. She didn't want their vague attempts at physical contact. No hug or touch was going to bring her comfort.

Doug was dead. She heard the words in her mind but still couldn't believe them. Her love was dead. Her life was dead. Everything that made her feel whole was gone.

She knew some would find such thoughts shocking. She still had her health. She still had her children and her grandchildren. She could still write books and make money; breath air and live. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate those things. She did. They just didn't mean the same thing without "him".

Doug and Laura had met in high school. He was a football player. She was a cheerleader. It was the supreme cliché. Yet they clicked as soon as their eyes met across the field.

Their friends called them Mutt and Jeff because Doug was a full head taller than she was at 5' 4". She didn't care. They could have called her anything and it would not have mattered. Nothing would have kept her from his side or him from her.

Their parents worried that, because they met so early, neither of them would finish college before marriage. They were wrong. Doug and Laura had will power. Once they knew they'd have a life together, nothing was going to stop them and nothing did.

They married when she was 21 and he was 22; just one day after graduation. They had three children; two girls and a boy. Everything they ever wanted fell into their hands and they appreciated it fully; always giving thanks to God for finding one another.

Tears welled in Laura's eyes as she finally turned away from the window and sat down on the bed. Looking into the bedside mirror, she gazed at the white hair that covered her head and the wrinkles that lined her face. How was it that she'd never noticed them before? But she already knew the answer. It was because she always saw herself through Doug's eyes.

To him, she was the most beautiful woman in the world and to her, he was the most handsome man. Fifty years of marriage hadn't altered those opinions.

A soft knock at the door startled her. "Mom, its Kara. Are you ready to go?"

Laura imagined her daughter on the other side of the door, faced scrunched up in pain, eyes worried and heart laden. "In a minute. I'll be down in a minute," she returned.

The old woman stood and picked up the black dress she'd laid out the night before. She shook her head. It wasn't right. Doug hated black. He preferred her in red.

Moving to her closet, she hung up the black dress and reached for her husband's favorite dress. So what if others found her choice disgraceful. She knew it would make Doug smile wherever he was.

Pulling the dress over her head, she went to her jewelry box to get the pearls Doug had given her just one week ago for their anniversary. Her fingers glided over them gently. She wished he were there to clasp them onto her neck.

Laura slipped her feet into black pumps and grabbed a black clutch full of tissues. She knew she would need them if she hoped to get through the service.

Turning, she moved toward the door. She took one step, then two. Then she stopped. She felt a presence inside the room.

Turning, she saw an outline of light near the window. At first she thought it was just a trick of the eyes. However, the more she stared at it, the more solid it became.

"Laura," it crooned. "God knows you are sad today. His heart hurts with yours." The light brightened further to reveal a young man dressed in solid white.

"He's decided to give you an option. If you want, you can go with Doug into the light." The figure pointed to his left as another form began to appear. Laura's heart leapt at the sight of her beloved husband.

"You've done what you were sent here to do, Laura. The Lord is pleased with you. But this decision must be yours alone. No one else can make it for you," the man, Laura now knew to be an angel explained.

"Stay here with the kids," Doug urged. "I'll be waiting for you whenever your time is done."

The angel raised a finger to his lips to warn Doug to speak no further. "As I said, the decision must be yours alone, Laura."

"I must make it now, though. Is that correct?" Laura's mind wandered to her children. She wished she could leave them a note of some kind.

"Yes. Once Doug has crossed over, the offer is rescinded. It's together as you've always been or apart until time is through."

Laura already knew the answer. In her heart she understood there was no other. Life without Doug would be like living without half of her soul.

"I'm coming," she confirmed as she reached out to take the angel's hand. Her husband smiled and embraced her spirit as it left her body, which immediately crumpled to the floor.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered. "My Laura."

Hand in hand, the couple followed the angel as it ascended a staircase that magically appeared before them. Together in death, as they had been in life. It was a fitting end to a stunning love story.

"Mom, I'm coming in to help you get ready." It was Kara's voice once again at the door. "Mom," she knocked a second time before entering. What she saw when she did took her breath away. It wasn't the crumpled body that others would see once the paramedics were called. It was the sight of her mother and father going home to heaven -- together.

Kara watched as the couple disappeared into the light. The angel turned briefly and spoke to her. "The decision was hers, Kara. Make sure others respect it." Then he, too, was gone as the light faded from the room.

Kara kneeled beside her mother's body. "I understand, Mom. God bless you!" Then she rose to go down and tell her siblings their mother was gone too. Somehow she would make them understand what her Mom had always told her. "True love won't be denied!"