A little 'vignette' written in memory of my dear husband.

As I stood in the doorway of my home surveying the overgrown lawn, a familiar feeling of melancholy descended around me like a dark cloud on a moonless night. James had been gone for two years now, and the pain of losing him was as close as ever. Suddenly, as if in response to my heart's cry, he appeared from around the corner of the house, turned toward me smiling, and in a voice as clear as tinkling glass he said, "Honey, I'm going to take care of this grass today."

I watched spellbound as he expertly led the mower back and forth in rhythmic motion, leaving perfect lines in the neatly clipped grass. Up one row and down the next he went, the lawn mower humming away. Brrrrghhh, brrrrrghh, it went, as I closed my eyes to keep the precious image from fading. But I could not sustain it, no matter how hard I tried, and little by little, the sound of the whirring motor faded into nothingness, taking him with it, and leaving me standing there…

Alone, again.