"I will see you in Heaven!"(Kevin Hughes) “See you in Heaven!”

Sally laughed at her brother. He always said that when she did something nice, kind, or caring. It was his way of letting her know she did a good deed.

She had no way of knowing that just a few hours later, she would hold his bleeding and crumpled body with her tears streaming uncontrollably down like a steady rain. He couldn’t talk…she didn’t even know if he could still see. She hoped he could hear her. She just repeated over and over again to her brother:

“See you in Heaven. I will…I will see you in Heaven.”

She rode in the back of the ambulance with him…repeating her mantra over and over. Their bikes would be brought home by a kind Policeman. Her Parents were there at the Hospital …their faces already shattered by shock. There wasn’t anything the Doctors could do. There wasn’t anything anyone could do. Three days later…she kissed the casket goodbye:

“See you in Heaven.”

Offered as a prayer, a plea, a pledge.

Her brother only had ten years here on Earth. Sally had a lifetime to grieve…she was only eleven. Already…she missed him.

The whole School showed up at the Funeral. Sally didn’t even notice.

Time moved on.

So did Sally.

Until…

*****

She was mad. Angry. Outraged. Upset. All the negative feelings that one can feel bundled up into a tight ball of frustration that she couldn’t really throw at anyone. She was done with men. She had tried to love them…first Eric (High School Crush/First love), that ended the summer after High School. Then there was Maurice. He was the youngest Professor at the University she went to…they hit it off her Freshman Year. She never even knew he was married until her Junior Year. His wife was on a Sabbatical for two years…he didn’t bother to inform Sally.

Then there was the “bad boy”…Jonas. Lead singer in a soon to be famous Rock Band. She thought she could help him fight his demons. She was wrong. She left him and his bad boy image behind. She just walked off the plane in London and drifted out into the crowd. He didn’t even notice. He tried to call a few times when he was sober…she never answered.

And then…she met Garvin. Seven years of her life passed by in almost idyllic circumstances. They were happy. They were young. They had plans. And then…Garvin introduced her to Bruce. She cried as Garvin came out of the Closet in front of her. She cried for the burden Garvin and Bruce carried secretly for all those years…and she cried for her own lost love.

Oh, sure she was mad. Angry. Outraged. Upset.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why now?”

His answer was simple and honest:

“I didn’t know. I met Bruce.”

She needed a good cry. And another. And…another. She was done with men.

Until…

*****

“Are you okay?”

“What? Sorry.”

She looked up at the man standing staring gently down at her. She was still holding the railing of the bridge with a tight grip. All she had to do was climb over the railing…if the drop didn’t kill her…the trains would. She had just thought about her brother for the first time in a long time…and as she buttressed up her determination to climb over the railing…she thought about his words:

“See you in Heaven.”

She wasn’t sure that someone could get to Heaven if they jumped…but she would find out. It had to be better than the pain of living.

“I’m fine.”

The man put a hand on hers, gently prying her hand off of the railing. She resisted at first …then relinquished her grip. She was a bit surprised that after the man had peeled her hand off of the railing…he didn’t let go of it. Instead he wrapped both his hands around her much smaller hand. It felt good. Safe.

“No, you are not. I saw that look. I had it once.”

She stared up at him in surprise.

“Wha…what…what do you mean?”

He smiled a very soft smile. A smile that invited her to hear his story…but not here…not on a bridge in the middle of a pouring rain.

“I will tell you…but not here. There’s a little coffee shop just at the other end of the bridge, walk with me and when you are warm…I will tell you a story.”

She nodded. Hand in hand, and the most comfortable silence she had ever felt surrounded them both. She squeezed his hand and got an acknowledging squeeze back. They walked…together…in the rain.

The coffee had cooled. Her heart had warmed. Her mind was swimming.

She had listened to his story. So similar to her own. A childhood tragedy, a series of not quite the right person for him romances, and when his Fiancé left him for his twin brother…well, he found himself at that very same bridge. His grip on the railing was more powerful than hers…and his will to jump…stronger. His face had the same look as hers did… at that moment of decision.

“Why didn’t you jump?”

She didn’t ask with any malice of judgement. She sincerely wanted to know why. After all, she could honestly tell him that she would have jumped…if he hadn’t put his hand on hers.

“I heard a voice.”

“What kind of voice?”

He looked out the window at the rain. She could tell he was going back to the night he almost jumped. She could see him standing there…strong hands wrapped around the railing. She could almost read his thoughts:

“Well, if the jump doesn’t kill me…the trains will.”

She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. He looked down at her hand like he was coming out of a trance…then he looked into her eyes. Trust sprang up. And out.

“I never told anyone about the voice. You are the first one to hear my whole story.”

She smiled a warm complimentary smile at him. She knew she was special to him now…and she knew he was special too.

“So tell me…”

He went back to that night without a pause.

“I heard a child’s voice. A small boy …I think. Couldn’t be more than nine or ten years old…you know that high pitched voice little boys have.“

She shivered, chicken skin formed on her forearms. Every hair stood up. She leaned in closer to force herself not to leap to conclusions.

“The Voice said: “I will see you in Heaven…but not now.”

“Are those his exact words?”

She was afraid she would faint. She was trembling from head to toe.

“Yes, but…he said more.”

She gasped…gaping openly at the man she was starting to believe in.

“What else did he say?”

The man turned slowly, his eyes wide with tears and astonishment.

“He told me…he …said…I am not sure I should tell you…you will think I am crazy. Or worse…”

“No. No, I don’t think so. (Grabbing both his hands in hers…and tugging him towards her side of the table as if she could pull the words out of him by will power alone.) What did he tell you?”

The man looked directly into her eyes…a fierce look. One that said: “You asked for it.”

“He said: “I will see you in Heaven…but not now. In a few weeks, a woman will stand where you are now. You need to hold her hand. She’s my Sister…and she isn’t supposed to see me in Heaven. Not yet.”

Sally couldn’t breathe. Her mind was numb. The silence drew out for many moments. Finally she blew out her breath. She had regained her wits…at least a little.

“How did you know I would be there…tonight?”

“I didn’t. Ever since I heard that voice…I just went to the bridge every night about the same time I was going to Jump. I waited around for an hour or so…and if I didn’t see anyone…I left. Tonight, well, I was a little late getting to the bridge…and I saw you. I knew it had to be you. You had that same look I did. And the same grip on the railing.”

She had gone white as the blood drained from her face. She could see he was having trouble believing what he told her too.

“It can’t be. It must be coincidence.”

“Or a miracle.” He said softly.

She told him the story of her bike ride with her brother. About the ride in the ambulance. About how she felt responsible for it all. Then she cried on his shoulder without a care in the world for, or about, the other patrons stares and comments. Decades of guilt, shame and loss, peeled away, drained of their power by the cascade of tears.

His tears had nearly drenched her hair…as his own release was granted.

*****

It was a strange sight for passerby's to note:

A tall man in a Tuxedo. A smaller woman (but still taller than most women) in a Wedding Dress. Both standing silently over a neatly cropped grave. They were holding hands, with smiles on their faces. A fresh bouquet of flowers pressed against the cool stone of the marker.

As if they were one person…not two, they read the Headstone out loud, as they turned to start their life together, anyone close enough to hear would have been confused by their words.

“We will see you in Heaven.”

And they did.

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