*Author's Note: A now grown up soul, Maria looks in on her parents on their 30th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of her death. Takes place in the piece "You're Still The One."
My parents have been married for thirty years now. I have been dead for twenty years now. Even though my death is the hardest thing they have ever gone through, they made it anyway. They still are loving each other which I always hoped that they still would.
That's not to say that many changes haven't come about. My brothers were adult men with wives and children of their own. Elizabeth may not have been married with children yet but man was she going to dominate the world with her knowledge and wit. From what I've learned about my mother, Elizabeth and a young Diane Chambers Malone are very much alike. I hope they know that I was there for all the graduations, weddings and births of my brother's babies.
Coach is no longer with me in heaven. He chose to be born again a year ago. He is now the soul of Ernest Samuel Malone Jr. That's right, he came back to earth as one of mom and dad's grandchildren. He is a very sweet and shy little boy. Not unlike my brother, his daddy. Heck, almost like how I knew him to be in heaven.
As for me? Well, right now I am on the edge of my pond looking in on dad and mom. They are dancing to an oldies song that's as sweet as the autumn air. A shining gold penny appears to me in the pond from out of nowhere. I go to pick it up, kiss the coin and toss it down to my parent's living room. I realize that my ever observant mother is the one to notice it. Their song is over and she promptly bends down to pick up the penny. I can tell by the look on her face that she knows it was from me. She looks up at me and smiles. I smile back at her and blow her a kiss.
"I love you, mom," I say as she slowly drifts out of sight.
I get up from my pond and walk over to the weeping willow tree. I've been doing a lot of thinking and introspection here. One of the first thoughts that come to my mind is the fact that the penny showed up out of nowhere. How ironic that the penny is one cent and I know that my parents will soon learn they will have a new grandchild. They also don't know that their new grandbaby is going to be me. Yes, I have made the desicion after all these years to be born again. I will be Spencer's second daughter and I will live a remarkably full life this time. The age of five will be a factor in my life because that will be when Grandpa Sam will die. I will be close to him and it will be diffucult for me, but he is going to die before me this time and it will only be right. It's still unclear of when Grandma Diane will cross over but I do know that I will have many more years with her. Back to the pond, I prick the water with my toe and my handsome soon-to-be grandfather looks up at me, beaming.
"We will meet again, daddy," I assure him. Way sooner than you know.