The Announcement

The decorating of the room for the Spring Tea was not coming together. I knew it would, but right now it was not.

My husband walked in a side door and sat down beside me. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary until he started to talk, “The Oberholtzers have been in an accident.”

Everything stops. Everything. If everyone in the room only knew what I know right now they would stop, they wouldn’t be so carefree, so energetic, so unaware.

He talked slow. I wanted him to speed up, give me the bottom line. Who’s hurt? It’s got to be someone because he was looking at me funny and it was taking him long to spit it out.

“The boys are not hurt.”

Thank goodness. My children would be devastated. But he only said the children. I’m waiting, seems like forever.“

Jerry is fine.”

Of course I’m very happy that Jerry is not hurt but Lynn is sadly looking at me and my mind knows that something is desperately wrong and I’m not able to put it all together.

I creep to the thought…is She dead?

“Janet might not make it…” my husband finally says.

There it is, the gavel is raised, but the gavel has not been struck. I swivel on my heels to God, “God she can’t die in California, we have to be able to see this woman."

Janet, hold on!!!