GINGER

The first thing Mary Ann noticed as she slowly awakened was the scent of tropical flowers. Roy had built her a greenhouse for their second anniversary. He knew how much Mary Ann loved growing her own vegetables and how much she enjoyed having flowers about. When they were looking to purchase a home he made sure there was plenty of room in the back yard. Room for a greenhouse and plenty of room, if they were blessed, for their future children to have room to play.

Mary Ann grew the same tropical flowers that were on the island so she could always have fresh flowers in the house. As much as she was thankful that they had been rescued, the island would always be a special place to her and the flowers reminded her of their time on the island. It's where she matured from a girl barely out of her teens to a young woman. It was also where she married her soul mate. Mary Ann hadn't been able to care for her flowers lately so since Ann lived close by she kept her mothers flowers growing. She always made sure her mother had plenty of flowers in the house.

After the castaways were rescued they went on a media tour. Being stranded had changed all of the castaways. They started out as strangers with seemingly nothing in common. They immediately had to rely on each other to survive but soon realized they had become a family. The biggest change happened to the money obsessed castaway. Mr. Howell learned that his family was more important than any amount of money. So when the castaways were rescued Mr. Howell gave each of the them one million dollars, just to tide them over until they found a job.

During the media tour the Professor and Mary Ann had many discussions about where to live. Kansas didn't seem the best place for the Professor and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to teaching in Cleveland. A couple of weeks after being rescued, the Professor received a job offer in Los Angeles. After discussing the pros and cons of the job and the area, they decided to move to LA. After the media tour they immediately went house shopping. They found a large house close to the university, so when the Professor started his new job, Mary Ann went to work making their house into a home. They found they did miss the the sound of the ocean so with some of the money Mr. Howell gave them they found a house on the beach. They spent their summers there and any other time they could get away. When the Professor retired they moved to their beach home permanently.

"Hi honey."

"Ginger! What are you doing here?"

"Well I heard you had a couple of handsome men here and I couldn't let you entertain them all by yourself."

Mary Ann laughed, "Oh Ginger. You never change."

Russell and John came onto the patio carrying a tray of refreshments and settled down to visit with their mom and favorite Aunt.

Ginger glanced at Ann then at the tray she was carrying, "Annie is that what I think it is?"

Ann smiled, "Of course. I couldn't let you come over without making you a coconut cream pie."

"Aww thank you sweetie. I've been to some of the best restaurants all over the world but they can't compete with you or your mom's pie."

"I've really missed you Mary Ann. I've been wanting to come by but I don't drive anymore. Getting old is no fun. When I called this morning Annie offered to send my favorite nephews over to pick me up."

"I'm so glad you came, it's been too long."

"It certainly has. It seems like just yesterday we were rescued. Time is flying by too fast."

"Yes it is but then other times it seems to go on forever." Mary Ann sighed.

"How have you been Ginger? I haven't seen you in any new pictures lately, but they did have a marathon of your movies last weekend. They even showed my favorite."

Smiling Ginger asked which one.

"As if you don't know. "Love in Paradise" I still can't believe you wrote about our time on the island."

"Well I had to. So much had changed in Hollywood and I couldn't get a job. For Hollywood standards I was too old to be the star."

"Too old my foot. You were as beautiful when we were rescued as you were when we first got shipwrecked."

"Thanks honey. You guys were always my biggest fans."

"It turned out alright. You became not only an actress but a writer, producer and director."

"Yeah, thanks to the Howells and the money they gave me to get my career started again. It was enough to start my own studio. With the success of our movie I had my career back and bigger than before."

"For someone who only thought about his money, he sure had a heart of gold."

After telling stories and reminiscing for a few hours reluctantly Ginger said she needed to get home.

"Thanks for coming by Ginger."

"Your welcome honey. Come on boys, take your old Aunt home."

The boys laughed and stood up to escort Ginger home, "You're not old. You're as beautiful as the day we met."

Ginger winks at Mary Ann, "See why they're my favorites?"

Dawn and Ann walked out with Ginger to say goodbye.

"You know as long as I've known your mother her eyes have sparkled with life, even more so when your parents finally got together. Ever since your dad passed the sparkle has slowly faded to where I didn't see it this time."

"I'm worried Aunt Ginger, Mom doesn't seem to have any energy at all and she doesn't rest well at night. She always seems to be dreaming."

"What is she dreaming about?"

"Oh about when you guys were on the island, but mostly about dad. They're not bad dreams, in fact they seem to be very happy. When she finally settles down it's always with a smile on her face."

"You know I was in a picture once about a women who was sick and she kept dreaming about her husband that had passed, just like your Mom."

"How sad."

"Well it was for her family when she passed but it was also beautiful for her because her husband was waiting on the other side. The last scene showed after she passed and her finally being reunited with her husband. You could see the love they had for each other by how the look in their eyes. They hugged, then with an arm wrapped around each other they slowly walked into a fog. It was sad but at the same time a beautiful love story."

Ann had tears in her eyes, "I think Mom is ready to go and be with Dad."

Everyone didn't like it but seemed to agree.

Russell told everyone, "You know except for Dad going to work and Mom shopping with you Aunt Ginger, I don't think they went many places without each other."

Dawn agreed, "A long time ago I asked Mom and Dad why they didn't join a club and go out without each other like parents of my friends. They just laughed and said they would rather spend time with their best friend. They really were sole mates."