vignette

She’d been gone for six months. Six lonely, confusing months that had ultimately led him to the decision to sell the house. He’d never really liked that house, and now there was no reason to stay in it. He’d sell it, then visit his brothers and sisters, all scattered around the country. Maybe he’d find a place that spoke to him and buy a house there...

She’d been gone for five years. A lot had happened in that space of time -- he’d traveled the country, found new friends, made decisions on a whim. It had been refreshing and fun, but now it was time to settle in again. Both his girls lived in the same town and both were pregnant. He liked the town; even though it wasn’t a big place and didn’t have all that much going on, it had good people and he would get along just fine...

She’d been gone for thirteen years. He had six grandchildren, two of them twins, and he enjoyed his life immensely. His part-time job as a sacker at the small grocery allowed him to keep moving and to interact with people; he always went to church and found time to get involved at the senior center.

But the part of his life he liked the best was when his grandkids came by. Especially the youngest girl, Sophie. Sophie was six now, with a long brown ponytail of hair that refused to stay in the rubber band, big brown eyes, and a heart as big as the sky. They’d go for walks, swing in the park, and eat ice cream sundaes, and he never, ever got tired of listening to her imagination.

“Grandpa,” she said one day as they sat on the porch swing, “are you old?”

He chuckled at the question and the truth of it. “Yes, I am old,” he replied softly. “I’m 84 years old, but you keep me young, Sophie.”

She gave him her sweet smile. “Well, I don’t think you’re old. But if you are old you must have had a lot of ‘ventures, like with dragons and swords and ladies. Who was your greatest love?”

He was a little surprised until he remembered that she enjoyed reading about fairy-tales and knights of yore. “Well,” he said, “my greatest love was someone named Meggie.”

“But I thought grandma’s name was Catherine,” said Sophie with a confused frown.

“Oh, it was and I loved your grandmother very much, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “But my greatest love was Meggie and I always wondered what happened to her.”

“When did you know her?”

“She and I played together one summer when she was visiting the kids next door. I was 16 and she was 15, and I fell hard for her. She had red hair and sparkly green eyes and the kindest soul I’ve ever known. We would take the younger kids to the park, go bike-riding, splash in the stream back behind the fields ... we laughed together and planned together and it was just magic.”

“Did you kiss her?”

“Well now, the night before she left I was able to steal a quick kiss before she went into the house, but that’s all. And the next morning she was gone.”

“What made her different from grandma?”

“Hmmm ... I guess it’s just that there was magic between us. That’s the only way I can describe it. We were comfortable, we were ‘in tune’ as the young kids say, and we knew what the other was thinking. It’s hard to describe -- everything was just right. I never had that magic with anyone else.” After a moment’s thought he continued. “And, I suppose, magic is most likely to happen when you’re young.”

The breeze soughed softly through the trees as the porch swing moved gently to and fro, and together they sat there with their own thoughts, quietly enjoying the afternoon. After awhile Sophie leaned against him and put her tiny hand on his tummy as she drifted off to sleep.