Till We Meet Again

Ginger sat in a big comfy chair in her bedroom, fingering a silver charm bracelet that she held in her hand. The links had worn thin with age and she smiled, remembering the time Jeff had given it to her in Clearwater, Florida.

For the last couple of weeks she had felt too tired to do much of anything but remember. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, lost in her memories.

"Nana? Are you okay?" Henry asked, as he and his sister, Beth, entered the room.

"Heavens to Betsy, Henry Metcalf! I didn't hear you come in. Make a little more noise will you?" Ginger scolded.

"I'm sorry Nana," Henry apologized.

"What are you two doing here?" Ginger asked.

"We just wanted to stop by on our way home from school and see you," Henry answered.

Ginger smiled at her great grandson. His resemblance to his namesake was uncanny. His fun loving nature and mannerisms were so much like Hank when he was that age, he could have been his great grandson instead of hers and Jeff’s.

Beth, who had just turned 13 was 2 years younger than Henry, sat on the arm of the chair and put her arm around Ginger. "What's that Nana?"

"This is a charm bracelet your Pawpaw gave me many, many years ago."

Ginger handed it to her and Beth held it gingerly as she examined it.

"Don't you ever throw anything away?" Henry teased.

"If it's of no good use I do. But you never know when you might need something again," she smiled. "I guess it comes from being a child during the depression. Back then we didn't have anything to throw away."


"Tell us how you met Pawpaw," Beth requested as she returned the bracelet to Ginger.

"You've heard that story a hundred times," Ginger said smiling.
"I know, but I love hearing it," Beth sighed.

Henry groaned.

"Oh pooh," Ginger said as she waved off Henry's comment.

"Hmm, let's see....I met Linda, your pawpaw's sister, at Catholic school when we were very young. I wasn't a very good student and Linda offered to tutor me after school. She was so smart and with her help my grades improved. We enjoyed each other's company and became the best of friends," Ginger paused. "I still miss her."

"Go on Nana," Beth urged. "When was the first time you saw Pawpaw?"

"I went over to Linda's one day after school to study. We were sitting at the kitchen table. "

"That's when Pawpaw came in with the frog," Henry said.

"Yes and he was covered in mud. I was horrified. I had no brothers and did not realize young boys could get so dirty. He had the largest toad I had ever seen in my life in his hands. He asked if I wanted to hold it and of course, I didn't. At that exact moment the horrid creature jumped on me. I stood up and screamed. Jeff laughed so hard he fell to the floor. Hank came running in when he heard all the commotion and took the frog off of me and tossed it outside. Your Pawpaw really got in a lot of trouble over that," Ginger smiled sightly. "Hank asked if I was okay. I told him I was and thanked him. He was so cute."

Beth giggled. "You had a crush on Pawpaws brother?"

"Well, that first meeting with your Pawpaw certainly didn't give me any indication he would be the love of my life. My crush on Hank lasted only a short while, then I met his friend Charlie a few years later. When I saw him I just knew he would be the one I would marry." Ginger shook her head. " That just shows you, be open to what life throws you. Life may not work out like you'd planned, sometimes it works out better."

"You didn't marry Charlie because he married that other woman first," Henry stated.

"Yes." Ginger said with teeth gritted.

After all of these years the thought of Caroline still made her angry. She wondered what had ever become of that slimey limey.

"You didn't like her did you?" Henry asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Why? If she hadn't married Charlie, you would have, then you wouldn't have married Pawpaw and we wouldn't be here," he reasoned.

"Out of the mouth of babes." Ginger said as she ruffled his hair. "You're absolutely right. She did do me a favor."

"Tell us about meeting the train in your wedding dress," Beth pleaded.

"I can't believe you did that. That's so lame. And not just once, but you did it twice!" Henry said.

Beth punched him. "It's romantic!" she declared.

"No, it was pretty lame. At least the first time I did it, but it was very romantic when I met your Pawpaw at the station. When we got married it was just us, Father Dreyer, the bartender and the porter. Your Pawpaw had on the loveliest navy blue double breasted suit and I was wearing my mother's wedding gown and veil. Andy's great-grandmother, Gina, had repaired the veil for me and had sewn a good luck charm into the lace."

"But you were going to marry that awful man," Beth interrupted.

"Who told you that?" Ginger asked, surprised.

"Dad pointed him out in PawPaw’s team picture. He said if it hadn't been for Coach you might have married him," Henry answered for Beth.

"I was engaged to Arthur Schillib, and yes, Coach did give your pawpaw a little nudge. We were both so stubborn, always setting out to do one thing then another happening."

Ginger's mind filled with memories.

"Would ya marry me instead of him?" she heard Jeff's voice ask.

"Nana? Finish the story," Beth requested bringing Ginger back to the here and now.

" Oh, of course. Where was I? Oh, yes. I was in a hurry to get there before the train left. Your Pawpaw was leaving to play baseball and we were going to have to postpone our wedding once again. I prided myself on not making the same mistake twice. So I was bound and determined before that train left the station I was going to be Mrs. Jeffrey Metcalf."

"I was in such a hurry Father Dreyer and I ran right past him. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and I stopped and turned around. He was knelt down, tying his shoe lace. He stood up,
surprised to see me. I told him what I had planned and he agreed. He looked so handsome. There was never a movie star near as handsome as your pawpaw."

Ginger wiped away a tear.
"I'm sorry Nana. Don't cry," Beth said as she patted Gingers shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

"You didn't sweetie. These are happy tears."

"I wish I could remember him," Henry stated.

"I wish you could too. He was a wonderful man and he loved you both very much," Ginger replied
honestly.


"I want to wear that dress when I get married and I hope I find someone like Pawpaw."

"That dress will be over a hundred years old before you get married. You'll want a fancy new dress when you get married. And I hope you do find someone just like my Jeff," Ginger said.

"I promise Nana that I'll want to wear that dress."
"You are the sweetest child, Beth."

"What about me? " Henry asked.

"I don't know about you yet, young man. But I think there is hope," she laughed.

"We better get home Beth. Mom will be expecting us.

"Love you, Nana." They both said in unison.

"I love you too."

She followed them to the door and hugged them good bye, shutting and locking the door behind them. She walked over to the buffet and looked at the pictures there.

One was of her and Jeff at the Purl Roadhouse when they won the dance contest, another of her and Jeff from the Lemo Tomato Juice Hour.

There were pictures of Hank, Linda, Anne, Al
and Mike, most of them were gone now, and their families. Her and Jeff's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She picked up a frame that contained a photo of her and Jeff at their 50th anniversary. It was the last picture they took together.

"50 years was not enough honey," she whispered.
She ran her hand over the glass. His smile had never changed. His hair had turned a beautiful shade of white and had stayed very thick. His eyes drooped a little more, but still sparkled. She looked at herself in the picture. All she could see was an old woman but Jeff had never seen her that way. He had always looked at her as if she were still 25.
"I miss you," she whispered as she returned the picture to the buffet.

The visit from the kids had drained Ginger's energy. She went to her room and opened a drawer. She moved things around until she found what she was looking for, a pair of faded yellow pajamas. She laid down and curled up with them on Jeff's side of the bed where she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Slowly she woke up and she felt her heart began to race. Not from fear, but the way it would speed up when she would see Jeff walking toward her with that slow smile of his. She blinked a couple of times to focus her eyes.

"Hey there, sleepy head."

"Jeff!"

"Hi Hon."

He looked so handsome wearing the suit he wore the day they married. He reached out and took her hand. As she stood, she looked down and realized she was wearing her wedding gown.

She heard the faint sound of music. Jeff pulled her to him. "I'm a little out of practice but I think I can manage," he smiled and raised one eyebrow as he started to do the Foxtrot.

It felt so wonderful to be back in his arms.

"I've missed you so much," she said.

"Have I told you how lovely you are? And how lucky I was to have won you the first time, let alone the second time and how I never took a single day of our 50 years together for granted?" he said.

"Oh Jeff. I can't let you go again. I can't," she cried.

"Shh, Ginger. I promise I won't leave you again."

She sighed and melted into his embrace.

'I won't worry about waking up. I'll just think how wonderful it is to be in his arms once more,' she said to herself.

She smiled. "I think you have a knack for this," she teased.

He pulled back and looked at her. "I do. I once won a dance contest with the best lookin' dame in River Run. Oh wait, that was you," he laughed.
The song ended. "It's time Ginger."

She tightened her grip on him.

"Don't go!" she pleaded.

He smiled slowly at her and cocked his head. "Didn't I promise you that I would never leave you again?"
~~~~

Jeff Jr. entered his mother's dark room, worried because she wouldn't answer the phone. He rushed to the bed and quickly sat down next to his mother.

"Mom? Mom? Mom! Oh, Mom," he cried as he stroked her hair.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn't believe she was gone, but he knew she was where she had longed to be for the last few years. With her husband. With Jeff.

"Tell Dad and everyone hello for me."

He softly kissed her cheek and pulled the covers up over her.