Memory breeze

The soft, warm breeze blew across the old man's face as he sat in a rocking chair on the old withering porch. Before his wife of 42 years passed away last year, this is where she would sit every morning. At the time, he did not understand why she would spend many hours sitting in this very spot but that was not in his place to question her about. So he never did. He was not to question something that she loves so much and what made her happy. It wasn’t until he saw her laying in that hospital bed was when she finally decided to bring the topic up. What she told him at that moment changed his life forever.

He took her hand, bringing it up to his face in a soft and gentle movement, placing a kiss on her hand as he did everyday throughout their life together. He paused; her hand still placed against his face as he heard a soft whisper come from the bed. Lowering her hand and placing it gently onto her stomach he smiled. “Hi, my darling.” he said softly. Though with age and sickness, his wife was still the most beautiful person he ever laid his eyes upon. She smiled weakly, breathing heavily. “I'm leaving now.” she said. She looked so happy and calm, she was ready. He knew that he should call the nurses, but he didn’t. Her time to move on is now and he didn’t want her holding on while in pain any longer. 

“The wind,” she said between breaths. He once again grabbed her hand for comfort. Rubbing her palm with his thumb to let her know that he was listening. “It tells you stories” she said again, this time more spaced out and softer. Tears began forming in the old man's eyes as he listened. “The wind carries memories.” That was the last thing she said to him before she moved on.

Today marks one year since her passing and the old man would play those words in his head every day, not really knowing what to make of it. Today was the day where he mustered up enough courage to sit in her rocking chair on the front porch. Every day before this day he would tell himself that he would do it, but he would always come to find that the task was harder than he could handle. “It’s just a chair, nothing difficult about it” he told himself as he touched the old wood that made up the rocking chair. The old man made this chair for his wife 40 years ago when she was pregnant with their baby boy, who knew it would have stayed here for all these years.

Letting out a sigh. As he lowered himself into the chair, he felt accomplished and closer to his wife than ever before. That's when it happened, what she must have been talking about that day, right before she passed. The breeze was soft and warm, but it seemed to whisper at him. He got up quickly out of confusion and fear. He had been on this planet for 67 years and not once has wind ever had a voice, let alone speak. “I must be going crazy,” he said out loud, following it up with a laugh. “There is no way wind can talk. It’s impossible” the old man grunted as he made himself believe that his mind was playing tricks on him. He took a large, Deep breath as he closed his eyes and slowly lowered himself into the chair once more.

This time it was quiet, the wind stopped momentarily. With his eyes still closed he began to softly rock back and forth. Another breeze picked up, this time it definitely sounded like there were voices but instead of jumping up, the old man decided to open his eyes to see for himself what he must be hearing. As his eyes adjusted to the light, that's when he saw her. His wife. But not the one he saw a year ago, it was the woman he first met. Her long red hair flowed as she sat in the grass reading a book. The man was about to get up, to go after her, but the second his body left the chair she was gone. He sat back down fully on the chair and like magic, there she was again. She looked so happy.

Seconds later he saw himself approach her. The younger version of himself. “I remember this,” the old man said to himself. This is how I met her. A joyous feeling that the old man hasn't felt in so long seemed to return to his body as he watched his younger self sit next to her. The wind came to a gentle stop and the scene in front of him disappeared. “No no no no no! Why did it leave? Come back! Please!” The old man pleaded but the only thing in front of him now was just his normal front yard. Hours went by and the old man remained in that chair with no luck, he was determined to sit there for as long as it took to see his beautiful wife again. 

“It's beautiful. I love it” a voice said next to him causing the old man to wake. He must have sat in that chair so long; it caused him to drift into sleep. He opened his eyes to see his wife again, this time she's a few years older than the last memory. She was holding onto the younger version of the old man's hands and looking directly at the porch he was sitting on. Hopeful thoughts that she could see him went away as she continued to speak. “Oh, look at this porch! Over there maybe we could put a rocking chair” she said excitedly as she pointed in the old man’s general area. “And over there we could start a garden!” She ran over to the other side of the porch pointing to the spot where the old man's wife spent so many hours every year creating a garden that she was so proud of. “Whatever you decide to do, my love. I know you will make this house into a home for us” the younger version of himself said. The memory disappeared again as the wind came to a slow halt once more.

THE WIND! That was what was causing these memories! The old man realized. This is why his wife would sit out here for hours every day! She would watch her life as if she was watching a movie play on repeat. A huge smile crept up onto his face as he stood up. He imagined all the memories that she relieved over and over throughout the years. He did not understand why the wind chose this chair to have such an ability, but he decided not to ask any questions and just be grateful for the gift nature has given him.

Day by day the old man would wait for the wind to return and when it did, he would go to the rocking chair to feel the wind take him away in stories that he held so dear to him. Him and his wife getting married in the front yard right after they bought the house, his son learning to ride his bike outside in the paved driveway for the first time, the time they watched shooting stars in the grass. All of these memories seemed to make him feel alive again. The wind brings the man great gifts that money cannot buy. But alas, the wind can also bring destruction just as much as it can bring happiness. 

Dark clouds filled the skies as the wind grew heavy. Rain pattered the house like rocks falling from the sky. The old man could hear the house groaning from the wind beating on its sides, the sounds that the house were making sounded as if the house was pleading for someone to protect it from the harsh storm. But there was nothing the old man could do but hide away in the basement and wait out the storm. 

Several hours went by and the wind and rain stopped. The old man could hear the songs of birds outside giving him the safe call that it was okay to come out of hiding. The inside of the old house looked unbothered by the storm but as he looked out the window, nothing could prepare him for that sight. Tree limbs littered his yard and on the roof of his garage causing it to cave in. His heart sank seeing his once beautiful property now destroyed. He suddenly remembered the rocking chair. As he made his way to his front door, he started pleading to God that the chair is okay and that the wind didn’t hurt his key to happiness.

Opening the front door slowly, he saw it. The once beautiful, hand carved chair that took him weeks to perfect for his wife was now destroyed. The wind picked it up during the storm and it crashed into the side of the porch causing the wood to splinter into a hundred pieces. Dropping to his knees, the old man began to cry. Frantically grabbing the pieces. Attempting to put it back together as if the chair was that easy to fix. But no hope was found. It was gone. A week went by as the old man mourned the loss of a gift mother nature gave to him but then took away. The old man held onto the large piece of wood that survived the storm, on it is where he had engraved him and his wife's initials when he first built it. 

The old man made his way to the cemetery in which his wife was buried. He didn’t visit it much because he couldn’t deal with the fact that she was actually gone. With a deep sigh the old man kneeled down at his wife's grave. He reached his hand out and softly brushed the dirt off of her tombstone. “A wonderful wife and loving mother” the tombstone read. The man closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly while still holding her tombstone. “Thank you, my love. Thank you for showing me the amazing life I had with you once again” the man said with a tone of voice that no longer held pain. Instead, his voice had a tone of gratuity in it. He reached into his pocket carefully, pulling out the broken piece of wood from her rocking chair and set it on her grave. “The wind showed me so much these past few weeks and now I want the wind to take you to your eternal happiness” he said as he began to stand. 

Right as he was about to turn and leave a soft, warm breeze blew across the old man’s face. Taking a long deep breath in, he knew that from this moment forward everything is going to be alright.