“Come let me show you. I planted several on the grounds late last summer so they would attract the butterflies this spring. Look there.” Carlos pointed to several single stemmed, two-to- three-foot-high plants with orange flowers and elongated oval green leaves. Several monarch butterflies were eating nectar from the flowers.
“Oh! I didn’t know those were milkweed plants, I’ve seen those many times. The flowers become seed pods shaped like a tear drop.”
“Si, Miss Jenny, that is correct and that is where the seeds come from.”
“Why do they call them milkweed, Carlos, do you know?”
Carlos knelt down and cut into one of the green leaves with his fingernail and immediately a milky fluid was secreted.
Jenny nodded her understanding.
“We only have a few plants here and there, but I would like to plant more. I got these from the side of a country road near where we live.”
“Yes, Carlos, please plant some in the wildflower patch and wherever you can. Let’s make the grounds into a butterfly garden too! I just love seeing them all here, and their vibrant colour is so spectacular.” Jenny reached out with her hand, enticing one to land on her fingertips. “It’s amazing how they know when to leave for Mexico and come back and how they find their way, isn’t it?”
“Si, they must return in the fall to escape our winter and in the spring they must leave Mexico as well in order to survive; it gets too hot, too dry and the days too long.”
“I can’t imagine how they find their way—it’s almost a 3,000- mile journey!”
“Many say they are guided by the Earth’s magnetic field, but I say it is the angels who show them the way.”
Jenny looked at the insightful gardener and smiled, eyes twinkling and joy bursting in her heart.
“You know, Carlos, I couldn’t agree with you more!”
Chapter Thirty-Six
At quarter to ten, David locked the door and hung up a sign that read:
gone to henry’s graduation
Sorry for any inconvenience
The store was so empty now, hardly any customers came anymore. Those who still did came out of habit and mainly to visit.
David had refused Father Connelly’s offer to stay at the rectory until he left for the seminary. He wasn’t ready to let go of the store and the memories it held, not just yet. As he ended each day, he walked through the store recalling the past, the customers they’d had and how they had become involved in each other’s lives. He did the same as he climbed the stairs to his empty quarters, but this time the memories were of Anna. At times he could swear he still saw her sitting in her favourite chair near the south window, reading the Bible.
It was almost eleven when he finished his rounds of the store and arrived upstairs to prepare for Henry’s graduation. He wrenched his thoughts back to the present. By noon, he was ready and back downstairs, waiting for the Pedersons to arrive.
By noon, Henry was dressed in his brand-new outfit. He looked good, even if he said so himself. His father had arrived home a few minutes earlier and was in the shower. His mother was in the bedroom getting dressed.
As he waited for his parents, Henry paced the kitchen floor, trying to work off the mounting nervousness of giving his speech. He had rehearsed it so many times in the past two weeks he knew every syllable and where each one happened on any given page.
At twelve-thirty, his father walked into the kitchen wearing a charcoal grey suit, white shirt and a grey tie with pink flecks here and there. When he met Henry’s gaze, he grinned.
“Well, it’s not every day you see your dad all spiffed up.”
“Yeah,” Henry replied, “you look great, Dad. Soon you’ll be president of Coca-Cola and have to wear a suit every day.”
“Hmph,” his dad snorted. “That’ll be the day.”
His mother walked in then, and Bill let out a long, low whistle.
“Wow, you look nice, Mom!”
Mary wore a new dress in a floral mix of lime greens and yellows, in a style that accented her trim figure. On her feet were white nylons and white high-heeled pumps. And, to top it all off, was a small chic white hat with a veil that came to mid-nose, and a pair of white gloves that ended midway to her elbow. Bright red lipstick outlined her smile and there was a subtle suggestion of rouge on her cheeks, even a hint of eyeliner.
Henry and his dad gaped at her.
“You look great, honey,” his father said, kissing her cheek.
“Yeah, Mom, you’ll be the main attraction there.”
“Hardly, Henry. You’re the one everyone’s eyes will be on today. Are you ready for the speech?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Bill came over to Henry and patted his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do very well, son. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Well, we best get going,” Bill said, checking the clock. “It’s a little early, but we want to make sure we get a parking spot and we still have to pick up David along the way.”
His dad pulled the car in front of the house, then got out and rounded it to open the door for his mom, who appeared very pleased by the courtly treatment.
“Why thank you, Bill.”
“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you, ma’am.”
“Oh, Bill!” She laughed.
Henry loved it when his mom and dad teased each other like that. It made him feel they loved each other and had something special going between them. If only Mom…no…that was their affair. Henry pushed the thought of the twin beds in their bedroom out of his mind.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
It was a beautiful late spring day. A few clouds floated across the vast dome of the prairie sky. The wind was—thankfully and unusually—light, and the weatherman on the radio announced an ideal seventy degrees.
No sooner had the Pedersons pulled up in front of the store than Mr. Engelmann came out. He was wearing his tan-coloured wedding suit, the one he’d worn for Anna’s funeral. Once again, it reminded Henry of the bad dream he’d had on the day he’d met Jenny. The man in the dream was wearing that exact same suit, but wore a yellow flower in his lapel. Mr. Engelmann had looked so much like the man in Henry’s dream on the day of Anna’s funeral; he too had worn a yellow flower in his lapel. He wasn’t today though.
Perhaps Mr. Engelmann isn’t the man in my dream. Henry quickly suppressed emerging thoughts of the black-hooded figure that had turned the dream into a nightmare and made a valiant effort to let it all go for right now.
“Hi, Mr. Engelmann! You sure look spiffy today,” he offered as Mr. Engelmann got into the back seat of the car with him.
“Well, today is your big day, Henry, we have to get dressed up for the celebration. And just look at you! My, my, how handsome!”
When they arrived at the high school, Henry suggested that his dad turn onto Ottawa Street where there were usually a lot of parking spaces during the afternoon since most of the residents were at work. Sure enough, there was lots of room.
Mr. Mitchell greeted them at the top of the front steps with a big smile, and opened the door.
“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Pederson. Hi, Henry. And is this the Mr. Engelmann you told me about?”
“Yes, it sure is, Mr. Mitchell.”
“Well, I’m honoured to meet you, sir. You’ve had a tremendous influence on this young man’s life.”
Mr. Engelmann nodded. “Thank you.”
“I see you beat the traffic somehow,” Mr. Mitchell said to Henry’s dad.
“Yes, Henry suggested a side street, and he was right,” his father said. “We found a good parking spot.”
Mr. Mitchell patted Henry’s shoulder. “That’s my boy,” he said. “Are you all ready for the speech, today?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Henry repeated as bu
tterflies skittered through his stomach.
“I can hardly wait to hear it. I don’t mind telling you Mr. and Mrs. Pederson, your son’s is the finest speech I have read in all my years of teaching.”
His mother and father looked at each other with wide eyes.
Mr. Mitchell then explained what was going to happen and when they should enter the auditorium after everyone was seated and assembled. He gave them each a program to peruse while they waited. According to the program, Mr. Mitchell would greet the assembly and acknowledge guests and members of the school board and deliver a speech about the past year and the vision he saw for Balfour. That would be followed by student awards, including two to be given to Henry: one for outstanding grades and a second for overall student of the year.
Students and parents streamed into the auditorium, and the main hallway emptied out.
Henry watched Mr. Mitchell talking to a group of ladies and gentlemen who were undoubtedly some of the dignitaries attending the exercises. They followed the last of the students trickling into the auditorium. He shuffled from one leg to the other, hoping to settle his nerves.
Mr. Engelmann walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready for your speech?”
“Yeah,” Henry replied nervously.
“I hope you are a little nervous.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.”
“Ah, that’s good, Henry. It means you are going to do an excellent job.”
Henry looked at him questioningly.
“Remember, Henry, a little nervousness brings together all your resources to work at peak performance. If this didn’t happen, you would be doomed to a mediocre job. Don’t confuse the little butterflies you feel with some real danger, as if a car was coming towards you. These feelings are very similar, and as a result, they can confuse you into believing there is some real danger ahead and give you the urge to flee or avoid it. But what is it?”
Henry looked at him, dumbfounded, but said, “Well, there’s no real danger.”
“Exactly, Henry! So just be thankful that you feel this way, but don’t let it fool you into thinking there is anything more. Simply acknowledge the nervousness for what it is, knowing its purpose, then forge ahead and do the job. Somehow the Lord forgot to put on the brakes when we are required to perform big tasks!”
Mr. Engelmann was right as usual. What was there to be afraid of, really? They were just people like his family. Some were even his friends. Henry’s nerves settled as he brought everything into perspective.
“Are we ready?” Mr. Mitchell asked. At Henry’s nod, the principal motioned Henry and his family into line behind the dignitaries. Mr. Mitchell gave final instructions for everyone to proceed and in what order then went to the front of the line and led the entourage into the packed auditorium.
As they proceeded onto the stage, a hush fell over the crowd. When they were seated, Mr. Mitchell stepped up to the podium and asked everyone to stand for the national anthem. When everyone was seated again, Mr. Mitchell returned to the podium to acknowledge the special guests and dignitaries, and speak about the school year and his vision for Balfour.
The director of education spoke after Mr. Mitchell’s address and remained at the podium while he and Mr. Mitchell handed out the awards.
Henry was next.
Mr. Mitchell returned to the podium to introduce the valedictorian, and Henry had to coach himself to breathe. Perspiration soaked his armpits and tickled his forehead. He wished he was riding his bike into a 40-mile-an-hour prairie wind.
As Mr. Mitchell continued the introduction, Henry ran over the speech in his mind and panicked when he couldn’t recall the first line. He vaguely registered Mr. Mitchell’s account of his achievements. He looked down and straight ahead into the auditorium. With the lights off, Henry could barely make out the students. The only rows visible were the first two or three. His eyes rested on Mr. Engelmann and his mom and dad. They looked alternately at Henry and then at Mr. Mitchell. Their friendly, supportive faces instilled a much-needed calmness in him.
“And now, I proudly give you Henry Pederson, president of the student council and this year’s valedictorian.”
The students clapped, whistled and hollered as Henry approached the podium, reached into the breast pocket of his suit and retrieved his speech. He unfolded the sheets on the lectern, pressing them flat to ensure they would stay open in the same way he had seen Mr. Engelmann unfold Anna’s letter at her celebration. A peaceful confidence swept over him, at the thought, and he focused his mind on the job at hand. He believed with all his heart that what he had written was what he needed to say.
Henry deliberately waited an extra moment after the applause subsided so that everyone would be ready to listen.
“Thank you, Mr. Mitchell, for that kind introduction. Fellow classmates, students, parents and honoured guests, I am honoured to have the opportunity of speaking to all of you today. When Mr. Mitchell asked if I would accept this role this year, I knew exactly what I wanted to say.
“For the last four years, I have had the privilege of working for an extraordinary man and his wife, who have imparted valuable lessons in life to me. I am extremely grateful to my parents as well for all their love, support and teachings. Sometimes, however, it is easier to talk to a friend or confidante about personal problems and life’s challenges.
“I suppose I would have discussed these things with my parents, but somehow this man and his wife were there. I worked for them almost every day in an atmosphere conducive to sharing conversations from the heart. Almost every day I thank God for having allowed me to come into such an atmosphere in the most unexpected environment of an old grocery store. But it did happen. I sat on a weathered grey crate and drank root beer or Orange Crush and was taught by a very, very wise man. And I am very excited to share with you some of the lessons I have learned as a result of this experience.
“I will not be talking about future jobs and careers, or our past school year, or the pros and cons of attending a trade school or university. I will not explain how to get rich and own two cars, a boat and several houses. Mr. Engelmann taught me that while all of these things may seem important, they cannot bring you true happiness or measure your true success in life, regardless of how much you possess. I often kidded Mr. Engelmann that I would like to learn this for myself. And I did. Soon after getting something for my birthday or Christmas, I would find myself worrying again, or being upset about something or other. Material things really didn’t keep me happy for very long.
“True happiness and success comes from within, and that is the subject I have chosen for my speech. What you believe in, the principles and values you adopt and live by every day, will ultimately determine the quality of life and the happiness you enjoy. The principles and values I’m talking about are honesty, truthfulness, kindness, fairness, patience, understanding, forgiveness, and so on. These are things taught by our parents, our teachers and all religions. The goal is to be a good person and to fulfill the commandment of God to love our neighbour as ourselves.
“When we choose to live this way, we develop a strong character. We become people of integrity. People trust us and like to be around us and like to be our friends. When we live by these values, decisions are easy. We know what to do when life’s challenges come along, when we are tempted or tested. If we believe in honesty, we will then be honest; if we believe in fairness, then we will be fair.
“When we violate these values or principles, or if we are not firm in our belief and resolve to live this way, our problems begin and life becomes difficult. If we are honest or trusting today, but not tomorrow, we are no longer seen as people of integrity. But perhaps more importantly, we know in our hearts we are not being true to ourselves.
“People of integrity, people who choose to live by sound values and principles, also live more in the present, in the now of life. They
are neither controlled by yesterday’s wrong decisions nor worried about the future. People who do not live a life of integrity are only partially alive to the present because guilt, worry, shame or fear steals away precious moments from living in the present.
“So, we see that by living a life of integrity, we have a very rich life and are aware of the richness of life around us. We are then in a better position to serve the needs of others. And furthermore, by living in the present as people of integrity, we determine our past and shape our future. We are in control of our lives and destiny.
“What I am saying isn’t really anything new. We all know what values and principles are. But perhaps what we haven’t thought about is making a conscious choice to live by them. We must believe in our hearts and minds that this is the best way to live and then do it daily. Life’s problems can sneak up on us and if we are not prepared, we can easily make wrong choices and decisions.”
Henry then went on to talk about his struggle with wanting to reference God, the Bible and prayer in his speech because he didn’t want to be perceived as a religious fanatic or someone incapable of running his own life. But he wanted to share it because it was what helped him the most in his life. Even people who said they didn’t believe in God, and appeared so strong, were the first ones to turn to Him when trouble struck their lives. But what tipped the scale to including this in his speech was the influence of his friend Gary, who’d spoke so boldly about the effect God had made in his life and, of course, Mr. Engelmann’s influence as well.
“Perhaps one of the most important things Mr. Engelmann has taught me is to meditate daily about the direction my life is going and how I am living it. What did I do yesterday that was not so good, and how can I do better today? At the start, when I failed to do this consistently, I quickly ran into trouble. Over the years, it has become a habit, and for me this has become as important as eating, if not more. If I make the wrong decision or choice, I have trouble eating and get indigestion.
Another Angel of Love Page 32