Angel Promises Fulfilled

by Angel Promises Fulfilled (v5. 0) (epub)

  Somehow those daring words instilled courage into Jenny’s trembling body. Henry climbed in first and then helped Jenny from inside the basket and Sam helped lift her from the outside.

  The basket was made ideally for four people. Henry looked around for some kind of seat belt or life jacket or parachute but there was none; only ropes and a railing on the basket to hold on to. Jenny placed one hand on a rope and the other hand tightly gripped onto Henry’s arm.

  Sam and another man began to free the basket from the anchors. There was a sudden loud blast as the torch was turned on startling Henry and Jenny. Yellow flames emitted from the burner snarled into the interior of the balloon like crazed snake tongues.

  The roar of the burner was deafening and gave Henry and Jenny a momentary respite from their apprehensiveness. Before their fear could regain its foothold they were surprised as the earth seemed to fall away from them. They had both braced themselves to shoot off the ground in an upward, driving thrust, but instead it felt motionless; surreal. They wouldn’t have even known that they were rising, if it weren’t for the image of Sam waving and the cars on the field growing smaller and smaller.

  Within minutes they had ascended high into the brisk morning air. Soon they would see the rising sun from that perspective before the men on the ground. Their anxiety and foreboding was turning into a feeling of exhilaration that neither had felt before.

  The sky above the eastern horizon was catching more and more light. Streaks of red, pink and orange slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky. As Henry and Jenny drank in this breathtaking display of radiant colours, suddenly, there was a deafening silence. The pilot turned off the burner. He had reached the height he wanted. Although they were drifting with the wind, it seemed as if they were standing still; suspended and caught in a thrilling feeling of awe.

  Henry leaned over the edge of the basket with a smile he hadn’t felt since that day he had met Jenny. He shook his head as they glided, silently, weightlessly, serenely through the sky and recalled those precious memories. He had retrieved his bike from Mr. Engelmann’s store after walking Jenny home. He felt now like he did then speeding down the road passing 13th, 14th and 15th Avenues in a flash, taking the long way home. Memories flooded back of gazing into Jenny’s eyes that first moment at the store; how beautiful she was and how wonderful it was to hold her hand. Elation had soared through him as he pedaled along. He recalled vividly how it had felt like he was in a hot air balloon, instead of on his bike, coasting over the streets and intersections, fuelled by the torch in his heart!

  Perhaps, Henry thought, this was why he had decided to take Jenny on this memorable adventure…

  “Henry,” Jenny gasped, breaking him out of his reverie…“This is absolutely wonderful! I feel like I’m floating in the sky!”

  “I always knew you were an angel!”

  “Look, the sun is coming up!” Jenny exclaimed excitedly.

  Henry let go of the rope and turned to catch an orange slice of sun peek over the horizon and begin to burn into the edge of the earth. Rays shot upward and then down towards them and down still further as the sun ascended. The dark snow-covered fields came to life, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colours. Shadows scampered in all directions with no place to hide. Farms that dotted the landscape as tiny twinkles of light suddenly lit up.

  The scene before Jenny was so breathtaking, it broke into a memory of her stint on the other side. The heavenly, joyous feeling she had then was re-captured now. Hannah had been waiting for this moment to awaken her protégée’s memory of when Jenny had stood next to Henry and Father Engelmann before the brilliant tunnel of light. The memory intermingled now in Jenny’s vision along with the blazing sun as it grew brighter and brighter into the morning sky…

  Jenny could no longer contain her bubbling excitement as she stood next to her first love. Closing her eyes as the warmth of the rising sun caressed her face, she allowed the full impact of the memory to invade her mind. There she was, with Henry and Father Engelmann at the gates of Heaven, bathed in a brilliant light. In her mind, Jenny saw her eyes sparkle and flash as she turned to Father and said, “Our guardian angels brought us here to pick you up. Perhaps you will marry us before we enter heaven, or perhaps after. A heavenly marriage would be so wonderful…”

  “I’m sorry to say, Jenny, marriage in heaven does not exist.”

  “But, Father, maybe, just maybe, a rule can be broken. Henry and I have desired this for so long, that perhaps even the good Lord will make an exception.”

  “Yes,” Father admitted. “The Lord does remind us in Isaiah 55:9, ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”

  “See, there you are, anything is possible with God!” Jenny blurted…

  Suddenly, Jenny was pulled from her vision as she felt Henry take her hand now in his and raise it before him. He gazed lovingly into Jenny’s glistening blue eyes and, as if they were back standing on the doorsteps to heaven, Henry asked the words Jenny had longed and yearned to hear over the years…

  “Jenny, will you marry me…?”

  Tears of ecstasy streamed down Jenny’s cheeks as Henry slipped a narrow gold band onto her finger next to James’ wedding ring and she cried, “Yes!…yes!…Yes!”

  Their spirits soared with love and affection; the sun glowed brighter than even the dazzling tunnel of light. Laughter, buoyant cries of exultation effervesced into the celestial atmosphere. The balloon began to spin!

  For a moment, the pilot thought he had lost control of his craft. If only the unseen were visible, he would have known that the sudden, rapid rotation of the balloon was due to Hannah’s wings flapping so exuberantly in sympathy with Jenny’s over joy!

  Don couldn’t help overhearing the proposal and waited as long as he could before starting up the burner. The flames leaped into the balloon, lifting it once more into the glorious sky as if propelled by Henry and Jenny’s love.

  They no longer had to relive memories of that memorable summer of 1956. Their guardian angels had fulfilled their promises!

  “Yes!” Henry shouted into the warming prairie sky, just as he had on the day he had met his first love…

  “This, is what it feels like… to be in love!”

  Chapter Ninety

  The balloon ride and Henry’s creative proposal was just what Henry and Jenny both needed to get their spirits soaring again. The next day Jenny woke in panic.

  “My gosh, we are getting married in just two months! There is so much to do! What will I wear? Will Father David agree to have the wedding ceremony in the garden in my yard? Where will we live? In my home or Henry’s, or both? And what about the women’s group to discuss family and marriage concerns? Should I start it up before or after we get married?” Jenny flung off the sheets and dashed into the kitchen, got a pen and paper and began making a list.

  It was only six-thirty. She would wait until seven before calling Camilla; she would be up by then. She just had to tell someone she and Henry were getting married!

  “Oh thank you, dear God for restoring our lives and turning everything into such good!”

  Who would they invite? She didn’t know that many people in Regina. Perhaps it would just be family. “I know Matti would come and so would Chloe. But what about Thomas and Carlos? Yes, they should all be invited and of course J.J. and Nora… oh, the list is growing!”

  Jenny got up and twirled around in the kitchen, her eyes sparkling with joy and love in her heart!

  “Oh thank you guardian angels for bringing us together!”

  And what about Peter and his wife and family? Yes, they should be invited, too. She recalled Father Engelmann’s words: “Yes, forgiveness is the path to reconciliation, peace, freedom, and even friendship. All of these elements of healing are ever present if only we choose to be open enough to let such Christ centered thoughts into our hearts and minds.”

  “Will the garden have en
ough room for all these people and Henry’s family?” Jenny thought out loud. “It’s a big back yard… yes, it will work. I just know it will. It will be so wonderful to have everyone in the garden ablaze with flowers and butterflies in the air!”

  A surge of happiness swept through Jenny. She felt as though she were back in the hot air balloon soaring in the heavens. She just had to call someone. She would have last night but she and Henry were talking and gazing at the stars in his SUV until almost midnight.

  “Yes, they are two hours ahead of us…” she blurted.

  Jenny went to the phone and dialed the number.

  “Hello, this be the—”

  “Oh, Matti,” Jenny cut in excitedly. “It’s Jen…guess what? Henry and I are getting married!”

  It took a few moments for Matti to orient herself and figure out who was calling and for her ear to stop ringing and…finally she squealed, “Whoopee! Jen, the wish in your heart for such a long time be coming true… I be so happy for you!” Matti began to cry out of joy for her dear friend.

  “And guess how Henry proposed to me!!”

  “He went down on bended knee and pleaded for your hand in marriage?”

  “Yes, he did ask, but where were we when he did…?”

  “Oh, Jen, don’t you be telling me he take you to heaven and back again—”

  “You’re so close, Matti! Yesterday morning he picked me up around five o’clock in the morning. It was still dark outside and we drove out of the city and then off the highway into a field—”

  “Good Lord, Jen, where the man be takin’ you… sounds so mysterious to me. My heart already be jumping out of its cage just listenin’ to your sharing.”

  “There were several cars in a circle with their lights on shining at something in the field. It almost looked like aliens had landed out there… Matti, it was so spooky!”

  “Chills or someting are running up and down my spine… what be happenin’, Jen?”

  “You would never guess—Matti, the men were preparing to inflate a hot air balloon. Henry made arrangements to take me up in the balloon and that is where he proposed to me!”

  “Oh, my sweet Jesus. What that man be thinking!? I remember seeing one of them balloons floating up in the sky with a little basket holding a bunch of people…there be no way he get me up there. And you went into that little basket?”

  “I was so frightened at first, I thought I would faint. As soon as I got in, the pilot started the burner and away we went.”

  “I can just see you, holding onto that man of yours for dear life… ain’t that so?”

  “Yes, but it’s so exhilarating and serene you soon lose your fears. And just as we were high in the sky the sun began to rise. Henry and I thought we had died and gone to heaven again. What a breathtaking sight to see the sun come up and change the colours in the sky and fields. The artist in Henry held him spellbound the entire time. I think he may have forgotten all about proposing to me.”

  “Now that where you’re wrong, honey child. There be not’ing in the world that could distract Henry from loving and wanting you as his bride every moment.”

  “It was all so romantic and beautiful, Matti. The landing brought us back to the reality of what we were doing, though. It was bumpy and scary and thrilling, all at once, if you know what I mean. When the basket landed on the ground it fell on its side and Henry and I fell on top of one another. My heart is still soaring!”

  “Mine be up there with yours, Jen. There be no one more deserving of happiness and that man be just right for you. Just the way he ogled you and kissed you at the hospital… Oh, Lord…that be powerful!”

  “I am going to call Camilla right after we hang up and see if she can go shopping with me this Saturday. I thought I would get a new dress and shoes…nothing fancy, but pretty.”

  “You lookin’ good in just about anyt’ing, Jen… tell me, when is the big day or are you two still deliberatin’ on that?”

  “We were thinking about July 6. That’s the day when we first met, but it’s too long to wait. We decided on June 3rd. It’s spring, new life, new start, summer begins, the flowers are in full bloom, the monarchs are back—”

  “Perfect time for a wedding, I have to agree…” Matti chimed in.

  “We are hoping to have the Mass at the church and then do the marriage ceremony in my back yard garden.”

  “I recall your yard, Jen, its paradise. That be the perfect place to carry out your vows…it will be so beautiful!”

  “What will make it all the more beautiful, Matti, is if you, Thomas, Carlos, Ramon and Charles, all come with J.J. and his family. You are all family to me. It would make me so happy and make the wedding just perfect with your presence.”

  “Whoopee, Jen. I be comin’ if I have to walk all the way. This be one wedding that I will never forget. I am so happy for you, I be holding on the table to keep me from floating in the sky without even being in a hot air balloon!”

  “Oh, Matti, you are such a dear friend. Let Thomas and everyone else know. I am going to call Nora right after I speak with Camilla. I hope J.J. takes the news kindly.”

  “Jen, he be changin’ just like his daddy. He becomin’ one sweet man. Even coming home in time for dinner with his family. We all still be sittin’ together and have a great ol’ time. Have some lively discussions and all. Why I can honestly say, we becomin’ one big happy family. I just know J.J. be happy for his momma. You done a good job, Jenny, that’s for sure…”

  As soon as Jenny got off the phone with Matti she called Camilla, Nora, then Chloe and finally her friends Mable and Joan. They talked over much the same as Jen had talked with Matti. Everyone was elated over the news.

  Her last call was to Henry. That would get her day started off perfectly.

  “Hi sweetheart, I was about to call you. So, have you come down to earth yet?”

  “Oh Henry, only you could have thought up something so wonderfully creative. I was so frightened and excited to go up in that balloon. I thought I would get dizzy but there was no vertigo whatsoever.”

  “It’s an amazing experience, just being suspended in the atmosphere like that going gently with the wind. I didn’t feel any sensation of movement whatsoever.”

  “Yes, so true… just so exhilarating. I’m glad you just went ahead and booked the flight; I might have chickened out and missed out not only on the experience, but being proposed to up in the heavens!”

  “Exactly my thoughts, honey. The only thing is, I don’t need to be up in a balloon to feel that I’m in heaven. Just being near you does it all the time!”

  “Oh, Henry, I love you so much.”

  “I love you more, sweetheart.”

  “I called Camilla this morning and we are going out to start shopping for what I am going to wear for the wedding. We have several shops in mind and there is a new wedding boutique that just opened up which we want to check out. I don’t want anything fancy, just something special for you.”

  “Was Camilla surprised?”

  “No, she was expecting this, just thought you would have asked sooner. But I told her you wanted to just let me be for awhile after coming back from Ottawa. Both your timing and the way you did it was perfect! It just gave me that lift that I needed. I almost flew out of bed this morning.”

  “I can’t wait to be in bed with you every morning! There will be days we may not even get out of bed!”

  “I can see that happening and as Matti would say, ‘that’s for sure!’” And by the way, I called Matti and Chloe and Nora, as well, to tell them the news and also to invite them to the wedding as we discussed last night. We will have to rent some rooms at a hotel. I think J.J. and his family can stay here with me—”

  “So who else is coming?”

  “Well, the only family I really have is J.J. and his family and I do consider Matti, Thomas, Charles, Carlos and those who have spouses to come as well.”

  “We have a huge house, Jenny, and can easily make room for them. I thin
k they might enjoy staying on the farm for a few days.”

  “Oh, Henry that sounds wonderful and yes, Matti and Thomas and Carlos especially, would love to see the Poustinia. Oh, I can just see Matti’s expression when she walks into the prayer house. Why she’ll fall to her knees straightaway and give thanks to Jesus!”

  “In fact, if Father isn’t using it, she can even stay there.” Henry offered.

  “Yes, she might at that. I would be a little nervous being all alone down there, but she just might enjoy it. We’ll see. Now, that only leaves Chloe and Robbie. I might be able to make room for them. Chloe could sleep with me and Robbie on the couch or I could rent an inflatable mattress.”

  “If not, I’m sure the both of them could stay here as well. I could easily convert one of the rooms in my painting studio as a temporary bedroom. I see no problem, Jen.”

  “Perhaps you can check with Father Engelmann to see if we can have the marriage ceremony in my backyard garden after the Mass.”

  “I think that can work, too. So, we are still planning a small wedding; just immediate family and your extended family in Ottawa?”

  “Yes, we could go larger if you want. I think there is enough room in the garden for just the immediate families if that’s okay with you. It may be a little crowded…”

  “That’s fine, Honey. I just want to get married and hold you in my arms forever. I’m sure Eddy and Coreena will come. Gary should be calling or writing back to me if he can come and the only other two couples will be Julean’s parents and her Aunt and Uncle Jacob. If we want to have more friends and relatives, we can always hold a reception at the café at some future time. But I think having the ceremony in your garden couldn’t be any more beautiful and I’m certain it can easily accommodate all the people we plan on inviting.” After a pause, Henry added, “On that day, I especially want to fill the angel’s basket in thanks for you!”

  “And leave some room in there for my thanksgiving flowers as well, for you my dear, sweet, Henry, who I love with all my heart.”