“Come here. Let me hold you.” Taking his beloved’s hand, the big man pulled his beautiful wife onto his lap. “Watch the sunset with me.”
Sighing, she nestled her head on his solid shoulder, resting against him in complete contentment. “Do you find it odd how most people equate sunny days with happiness and rainy days with sadness?”
“Not me.”
“No. Not you.” She laughed, kissing him on the neck. “But you’re special.”
“I’m blessed, that’s what I am.” As he considered her observation, his eyes moved over their home. He’d never felt more fulfilled in his whole life. “You’re right, the majority of folks do associate bright sunshiny days with good things, even though most will admit they love to watch it rain or they’ll say they sleep better during a storm.”
She smiled, recognizing her own sentiment. “I just find it strange, that’s all,” she muttered, reminiscing about all they’d been through, the moments they’d shared. “We long for a carefree life, free from worry, free from care. But life doesn’t work that way, does it? To fulfill our destinies, we must grow. Change. Bud and bloom. And like a flower, planted in the sunshine, there will be no growth if there is no rain.”
“Wow. You’ve been giving this some thought.” The man kissed her tenderly on the cheek.
“I have,” she agreed, her voice soft and serious. “Storms are a necessary part of life. I guess if we were to consider where we came from, the stormy days would be the ones that molded us into the people we are now.” The woman laughed, rubbing her face against the strong arm that held her so tight. “We certainly had our stormy days, didn’t we? Do you remember?”
Chuckling, the man nodded. “I certainly do. Although, there are some I’d rather forget, if I could.”
“I don’t know,” she mused, rubbing her fingers over his forearm, taking comfort in his nearness. “Those times all worked in concert, bringing us to the place we needed to be.” The woman tilted her head to look up into his face. “Change any one of them and we might not be here today. Together.”
“You’re right.” He tightened his hold on her, unwilling to even consider the possibility that they might never have met. Never loved. “And I wouldn’t have missed this, missed you, for anything – not for anything in the world.”
Oh, she loved him. She loved him so. “It’s all been worth it, hasn’t it?”
“Oh, yes.” He rubbed his lips on her cheek. “Well worth it. Our perfect life has been a perfect storm.”
FLASHES FROM THE PAST
YESTERDAY’S STORMS
Clint Wilder at Seven Years of Age – May 25th, 1997
“Here, bend your ears over like this.” As they sat on the kitchen floor, Rowan showed Clint and Colleen how to fold their ears to close them. “See? Now, you can’t hear them arguing,” he spoke loudly.
“I can’t take any more of this. We can’t get our heads above water to save our lives. No matter how hard I work, we can’t seem to make ends meet. You’re going to have to get a job, Gillian!”
“What about the children? Don’t you understand the cost of childcare? We wouldn’t come out ahead. If you’d let us come live with you on the job, we wouldn’t have to pay rent on two places.”
“No. The North Slope is no place for a family. Do you know how cold it gets up there?”
“Well, why don’t you come home? You’re between jobs. Why don’t you hunt one here? Be with us all the time.”
“Jobs here don’t pay as well as pipeline jobs.”
“Well, why don’t you ask your…”
“No! I will not ask my family for help. If you knew them, you wouldn’t even suggest such a thing!”
“Well, what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m exhausted all the time. And when I come home, it’s just more of the same. I don’t think I can take any more of this.”
“Well, don’t! You don’t have to go to work. And you don’t have to come home. Just drive off into the sunset and do whatever you want to do.”
“You have no idea how tempting that sounds.”
“Well, do it. Just do it. Go!”
“I can still make out what they’re saying,” Clint mashed his ears harder against his head, wishing he were somewhere else. Anywhere else.
“I can hear them too,” Colleen mumbled as she shook her head to dispel the noise, the curls of her long blonde hair bouncing around her