Excerpt

It was a crisp fall day, the air was clear, the sea was tranquil. Ginny took her early morning walk with Alphonse. Mike was sleeping and probably would be sleeping for another hour so she didn’t feel guilty having Alphonse out for his walk.

The sandpipers were dancing along the sandy shore, the sun was sparkling on the water. She noticed some of the bigger birds, called plovers were among the seagulls and sandpipers. Alphonse was chasing seagulls as happy as a kid, let out of school, barking happily. It was a day for anyone to be happy that he was alive and well, thought Ginny.

She looked out to the sea and felt a truly content feeling. She shivered as she felt so close to the Lord who had always been a personal God to her. She prayed for Michael and the decisions he had to make as an individual and the decisions they needed to make as a couple, very much in love.

Somehow, she knew everything would work out. She hadn’t come here without a reason; the reason she wasn’t sure yet except that it had to do with that guy up on the top of those dunes.

She was thinking back to her Baptist upbringing and the labels people put on you if you were Catholic, Jewish, or Baptist. She felt very keenly that such labels limited one’s ‘soulprint’. It limited the person, who you really are. It was like a mask, or badge that people wore. ‘I am a Baptist… I am a Muslim… I am a Jew… how about people looking each other in the eye and saying to each other, I am who I am, I am the sum of all the influences that have played in my life… I am truthfully me… I am a human being who loves people; I am part of everyone who has ever touched on my life. All I want is to share a persons’ commonality. We’re all in the same boat… we all have dreams… and aspirations… why do people look at only a person’s exterior and judge accordingly. Why can’t people look other people in the eye and share their pain, their problems… their ‘youness’ which is the ‘weness’ of being a fellow human being.’

She wondered if birds had any of these feelings. They sat together on the beach, squawking continually… what were their noises about? What did ‘screaming plovers’ scream about? Life? Their fears? Did they care for each other at all? The sea breezes were gently brushing her skin, even as Alphonse came up to her barking, softly, as if to remind her it was time to get back to Mike.

She was surprised to find Mike wide awake, dressed and sitting at the table finishing a bowl of oatmeal. “Oh, oh, Mike, I was going to make you blueberry pancakes this morning. I didn’t think you’d be up so early!”

“So what’s the problem if I don’t have pancakes this morning, can’t I have them tomorrow morning or whenever? Besides we don’t have time for pancakes, we have an interview with a special lady today in Falmouth.”

“Mike, you called her?” Asked the surprised Ginny.

“Yes, why not? I feel great today. It’s a beautiful sunshiny day, so why not take a little day trip? We can bring a lunch or just eat in one of the many restaurants in Falmouth. You might even want to shop along the way, on our homeward journey. I called this woman: her name is Julie Bromley and told her briefly my story. She said she’d be delighted to have company today - it was one of her better days, too. Evidently her myeloma left her with a bad kidney situation so she has to go for kidney dialysis 3 times a week. When she has those treatments she gets extremely tired and weak. So, if you don’t have any other plans, let’s head out.”

“Oh, oh, look at Alphonse, he knows we’re going out and probably leaving him home. It would be fine with me, but I hate to leave him alone.” Said Ginny, looking at the woe-begone expression on Alphonse’s face.

“Hey, you’re getting too attached; too sensitive to MY dog.” He laughed. “You’ll just make it worse if you keep looking at him like that. Dogs love people but don’t you imagine that they like their ‘own space’, even as people do? He’ll be perfectly happy to stay in all day. He’s had his outing and I’m sure he’s done all his daily business, we’ll give him extra food and water and he’ll be fine.” He rubbed Alphonse vigorously as he talked, and kissed him on the nose.

Ginny laughed: “Alright, alright, give me 10 minutes to put on some slacks and a clean top. We’ll eat in a restaurant instead of taking a picnic lunch; it’ll save some time.”

Soon they were on the road. They made a stop in Yarmouth to fill the gas tank and each got a coffee ‘for the road’. It was such a lovely day with the puffy white clouds all around them. The roads were rather quiet; it was a day for travel and enjoyment. They got to the rotary where the small airport was, and went around to meet the road that went straight to Falmouth. They paused at the lovely Greek Orthodox Church to admire it, then went on.

Mike said: “I don’t know how beneficial this visit will be. It’ll let me know more of what to expect; but of course our cases are different. I don’t know how open she’ll be to talking about her experiences.”

“True, Mike, but it’ll be a nice day trip even if we don’t learn too much. You know, she might not want to discuss it at all; did she sound open, on the phone?”

“Yes, she sounded very nice. I do feel it’s an imposition to barge in, maybe we should stop and get some flowers?” Asked Mike.