Waiting is usually not a good thing in life , but for some , its not always a bad thing either . Late August in 1953 was a nice one for 6 year-old Tommy and he was excited because he was about to begin 1st grade next Monday . Not only that , he would finally be going to school with Emma , a pretty girl who lived three doors down from him forever & was Tommys best friend . Emma was 2 years older than Tommy & would be entering the 3rd grade , but Tommy thought that when two people were in love , age doesnt matter . Tommy & Emma had been friends for years . Their parents often had cook-outs in each others backyard from time to time , took the two children to the movies every Saturday while taking turns paying for it & for the last two years , had taken them to the fair where they would ride The Merry-Go-Round & The Bumper Cars & eat cotton candy . At 6 and 8 years old , Tommy & Emma had been dating for a long time without knowing it & when their parents werent looking , they liked to hold hands together . Tommy & Emma liked to dig frogs out of the side of the creek bank that ran behind their homes , then let them loose in the creek water & watch them swim away .But the main thing they loved doing together was riding their bikes up & down the streets in front of their homes with the wind blowing in their hair . Tommys father made him keep a crew-cut back then , but Emma had long dark hair that loved to fly with the wind & Tommy loved how pretty she was when it did so . One evening , Emmas mother yelled out the front door , SUPPER! & it was time to go in for the night . Tommy rode up into Emmas driveway where they stopped & with a sheepish look upon his young face said , Emma , when school starts on Monday , will you be my girlfriend & let me carry your books home from school? School was 5 blocks walking distance . But Tommy , I get out of school at 2:30 . You get out at 2:00. Ill be waiting on you. Emma took his hand , smiled & said , Okay. ....... and then she went inside ........ and Tommy went home a very happy little boy . Emma went to sleep that night thinking that Tommy was a sweet & purty boy . Years would go by & two children who had lived three doors away from each other all of their lives began a very long journey together down The Highway of Life . There were dates & proms and they learned what smooching was together . 1965 came along and Tommy was graduating high school . Emma had done so two years earlier , had taken a job as a cashier at the local grocery store & was saving money for when they would marry the next year when Tommy got a letter from Uncle Sam telling him that he had to give four years of his life or give his life in a war with Viet Nam . As he was about to leave for basic training , he kisses his Emma & says , I love you & Ill be back & well get married. Emma looks into his eyes as hers began to fill with tears & said , Ill be waiting on you. And she was four years later & from everything Tommy had done & seen in those four years , he felt that he was the luckiest man on earth ...... and especially to come home to the love of his life . Tommy & Emma would marry and bear two children , five grandchildren , seventeen great-grandchildren , and all the time that they spent in all those waiting rooms didnt bother Tommy & Emma at all . It is mid-June in 2014 and Tommy & his youngest great-grandchild are digging frogs out of the creek bank that runs behind the house & setting them free & watching them swim away in the creek water . Tommy is enjoying the giggles of the little one when one of the frogs stretches its legs behind him in its escape effort when a sharp pain shoots through his chest & he collapses . He tries hard , but is only able to say to the young child ,Go get help. ......... and the little boy did so . A few hours later , Tommy opens his eyes for the last time & does so in a hospital . The love of his life is holding his hand . She has more tears in her eyes as she says , Oh , Tommy . I love you so . Please dont leave me . Tommy looked around at the rest of the family members in the room & the room seemed crowded . He looked back to the only love that he had ever known in his life , smiled , & then said , I love you , Emma . Its okay . Ill be waiting on you . Then he closed his eyes forever . And years later when the time finally came , Tommy was right there waiting on his Emma .
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 06:31:24 +0000
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