IF IT WEREN’T for the silk lining and the flowers surrounding her, Matt could easily imagine she just slept. Just like how he’d found her that fateful morning in her bedroom, she seemed so peaceful. The moment he realized she was gone would be forever burned into his brain.
As promised, he’d walked to her house bright and early, enjoying the warm sunshine along the way. He’d greeted her mother in the usual manner of waving as he passed her while she conducted foundation business at the dining table.
“Are you taking her out for a picnic?” she asked brightly as she hung up the phone.
He stopped to turn around, his hand going up to the plaid blanket slung over his shoulder while his fingers tightened their grip on the picnic basket. “Yep. Has she eaten breakfast yet?”
“No. The last time I looked in on her, she was still asleep.”
“Good. I brought all her favorites for breakfast. I’m so glad the sunshine decided to return today, she needs cheering up.”
“I agree,” Ruth said, turning her attention back to business as the phone rang.
With a spring to his step, he looked forward to seeing her surprise with what he’d brought. Standing in her doorway, he loved seeing how Charlie snuggled with her, his muzzle resting on her chest. “Haley, it’s time to wake up.”
He stepped into the room, slowly realizing something was off. Even Charlie didn’t move to acknowledge his entrance. Dropping the basket and the blanket, he sprinted across the room and grabbed Haley’s hand where it rested on the dog’s shoulder.
Instantly, he knew the truth, but he refused to give it a place in his mind. “Haley!” he yelled, knowing it was useless. Charlie whimpered his sorrow as Matt pushed him aside so he could attempt to give Haley CPR.
Everything else seemed like a blur after that. From Ruth screaming and crying to Hunter calling an ambulance, there wasn’t a single quiet moment for quite some time. The autopsy found she had suffered a grand mal seizure and passed away sometime in the middle of the night.
Charlie kept his vigil as he stepped up next to her casket. This was something he had been unable to do with his brother. Looking down at Haley, his vision blurred with tears as he realized this would be his last time ever being with her physically.
He hoped she had been right about her spirit living on with this life’s experience. Maybe she was watching him even still. A tear dripped down his cheek and fell onto her arm.
She looked beautiful in her lavender dress. It was the same one she’d worn to his brother’s memorial service. The same one her mother said she wore to all the funerals they’d attended. It only seemed fitting she would wear it to her own.
“Where’s her necklace?” Matt asked, suddenly noticing her bare neckline.
Ruth cleared her throat and held out her hand. “She wanted you to have it,” she said, the pendant and ring resting in her palm.
He wanted to run away from the gesture if only to deny that it was happening. Still, his hand moved of its own accord and accepted the gift. Without hesitating, he unthreaded the promise ring and placed it on Haley’s left hand. “It’s where it would have gone eventually,” he whispered before turning away for the last time.
Jackson stood behind him, ready to give his respects to the family. Matt held out the pendant and said, “You should have this. It was your gift to her; she treasured it and you more than you’ll ever know.”
Shaking his head, Jackson refused to accept the offer. “No, it was her last wish for you to have it. I’m not about to go against her now; I was never able to deny her anything.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the service at the cemetery, Charlie became Matt’s shadow. It was almost as if he knew his service with Haley had finished and now he needed to be there for Matt. Even now, sitting in the Vallem’s living room, Charlie sat at Matt’s feet where he stood next to the fireplace.
Hunter cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Thanks for coming to our family meeting, Matt. Haley wanted me to tell everyone a few things after her service.”
“What? When did she talk about this with you,” Ruth asked, her expression lined with pain at her daughter’s acknowledgment that this day would come.
“The first time was a long time ago, but she talked to me about it last week as well. Anyway, she wanted me to give you this.” Hunter held out a letter to his mother. “She asked me to write this out for her in the last video she made the night she died.” His voice choked up on the last word.
Ruth took the paper from her son; her eyes already blurry with tears. She wiped the moisture away and sniffed deeply before she began reading the words aloud:
I had originally planned on writing individual letters to each of you, but I decided I’d end up repeating myself. What comes to my mind most often is how incredibly lucky I was to have you in my life. I’ve learned so much in such a short amount of time; it’d be impossible for me to write it all here.
So, Hunter has been working with me on a special project. He’s going to give you each a flash drive. Ever since my diagnosis, Hunter and I have been working together on this special video project, documenting my journey and thoughts along the way.
Please don’t be mad at Hunter for keeping it a secret. Also, please understand his desire to see this project through before going off to college. He never wanted to disappoint you, but he always wanted to be here with me until my end. He’s the best brother ever!
Anyway, before you start crying too much to be able to read this still, I wanted to share some of my insights:
First, people spend too much time trying to ‘see’ the world, and not nearly enough time trying to understand it. I was so blessed to lose my sight so I could see more clearly with my other senses. I’ve come to understand how much we need one another in order to truly be happy.
Second, I may not have lived a long life, but I’ve loved the life I’ve lived. My family is amazing, strong, generous, resilient, and happy. We’ve experienced so much together, growing and learning along the way.
Third, the greatest possession of my life is the relationships I encountered and the love I’ve felt. I was once told we come into this world to live out a certain experience we haven’t felt before. If this is true, then I’m truly blessed with the deep, abiding, and selfless acts of love I’ve encountered.
I know it’s hard to hear this right now, but please don’t be sad for me. I’ve lived every minute I was given, and I want you to learn to find the same happiness that I have. Treasure our memories together, and go out and create more in my memory. Live your life. Find love in everything. And most of all, share your happiness with the world.
The room remained silent except for the sniffles of people unsuccessfully attempting to hold back their tears. This was Haley’s last gift to the family, and they were truly touched. Ruth’s hands dropped as she came to the final words and asked, “Where are the flash drives she spoke about?”
“Right here,” Hunter answered, holding out his hand containing nine small figurines. “She picked out a different theme for each person.” He handed the rose to his sister, Rose, a roller skate for Julia, a football for their dad, a heart for their mom, a dragon for himself, a camera for Jackson, a police shield for JB, a book for Jay, and an airplane for Matt.
“She had me compile certain moments for each person which she thought would make great memories for you. Some of them are repeated on different drives if you were all there together, but each one has her own style.
“She even had me record special songs she wrote for each of you. That’s the first thing you’ll find on each of your copies.”
Robert spoke up, “When did you two have time for all of this?”
“Contrary to popular belief, I wasn’t always playing video games late into the night,” Hunter defended himself, a rueful smile playing on his lips.
“I should probably head home now,” Matt spoke up. He hugged everyone as he made his way across the room; Charlie dogging his heels the whole
way. When he got to the front door, he tried to let himself out while holding Charlie back.
“No, Matt. Charlie needs to go with you. He was your dog first, after all.”
“I can’t take him; you guys need him.”
Ruth came over and kneeled next to Charlie. She stroked the dog’s head affectionately and looked up at Matt. “He wants to be with you, Matt. There’s no way we would ever deny him or you of the chance to stay together.”
She pushed the door open, and Charlie bolted over to Matt’s side, his eyes eagerly awaiting Matt’s next command. “See? Thank you for coming today, Matt. Don’t be a stranger, okay? You’re like family now, you know.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Vallem.” Matt turned away, Charlie ran circles around him, eager to be going home again. With this unexpected gift, an idea formed in Matt’s head about what he would do next. In a day or two, he’d contact Jackson and see if he were up to the challenge.
Epilogue
(Thirteen Months Later)
STANDING AT THE monument indicating the border between Washington and Canada, and also marking the end of the 2,650-mile trail, Matt brought his hand up to Haley’s pendant dangling from its original chain around his neck. He never went anywhere without it, and he could feel Haley’s spirit surrounding him as he worked his way through her bucket list.
Turning around, he gave a thumbs-up signal to Jackson who had his camera trained on him. “This completes the Pacific Crest Trail for you, Haley,” he announced. He pulled out a sheet of paper and made quite the show of checking off the sixth item on her bucket list.
Just then, Charlie jumped up like he needed to see what Matt was doing. As always, Haley’s dog accompanied him on this quest to complete the bucket list. He completed the team, taking in the sights, enjoying the journey, and sharing their travels with the world.
“What’s next, Charlie? Do you want to go skydiving, or do you want to sit that one out? Huh, boy?” Matt ruffled the hair on Charlie’s head as he affectionately talked with him. The two had become inseparable since Haley passed.
Matt often wondered if this were something Haley had planned from the moment they’d discovered Charlie’s past. After all, she had always insisted that Matt should spend as much time with the big dog as he could.
Jackson finished his panoramic shot of their final location before he put the camera in his backpack and came to stand beside Matt and Charlie. “That sure did take longer than I expected.”
“Yeah, five amazing months, but it was worth it.”
“I think my YouTube subscribers are going to love it.”
“Definitely. Especially that part where the rain washed out that whole section of the trail, and we had to repel to get around it. Although, it would’ve been better if you hadn’t been screaming like a girl for the first five minutes.”
“Hey, that was terrifying.” Jackson grimaced at the memory, thankful to be alive to tell the tale.
“But we did it. We finished the first column of tasks on Haley’s list.”
“It’s too bad we have to take a break from this project just because of school. It’d be awesome if we could just skip the real life and keep working on the list.”
“I think our parents would have different ideas. We were lucky they let us out of school early to start this.” They fell silent as they absorbed the gentle quietness of the wooded landscape. As they’d learned from Haley, they closed their eyes and soaked in the serenity of their surroundings. After hearing Jackson’s stomach growl for the third time, Matt said, “We should probably eat while we’re waiting.”
They wearily sat down with their backs resting against the border marker, almost too tired to dig out their food from the backpacks. Today, they would break out a special meal, saved for the occasions when they finished one of Haley’s dreams.
“Do you know what I’ve been thinking about?” Jackson asked as he held out the opened bag of M&M’s toward Matt.
He grabbed out a handful of the peanut treats and said, “I can only imagine. Hopefully, it involves something with a comfortable place to sleep.”
“Man, we are spending too much time together. I was thinking it’d be really amazing to spend the night in my own bed soon.”
They paused their conversation to watch a small airplane fly overhead until the trees blocked their view. Matt sighed and turned his attention back to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he held in his other hand.
“Are you still working on getting your pilot’s license?” Jackson asked.
“Yeah, I’m almost ready to take the written exam.”
“How many flight hours do you have?”
“Only thirty-five, but that’s all with an instructor. I’ll need a lot more after that to get where I need.”
“You know, Haley really wanted you to become a pilot for Angel Flight West. It’s all she talked about for days.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’ve got to get 250 pilot-in-command hours before I can even apply. Luckily, my aunt has offered to sponsor my training. Otherwise, I’d never be able to afford it on my own. What about you? Any grand plans?”
“Nah, I’ll know more after I graduate from film school.” Jackson popped the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and slapped his hands against his jeans. A plume of dust flew away, causing Jackson to think twice about repeating the motion. “I’m sure something amazing will come along, though.”
“I agree. I think this documentary we’re filming will open doors for you, at least.”
“I hope so. Speaking of which; are you ready to head down to the main road and see if our ride has shown up yet?”
Together, the boys and Charlie trekked down the path with more energy than they’d felt in a long time. Just knowing they’d completed the journey left them feeling a major sense of accomplishment. They rounded the last corner and spotted Hunter leaning against the side of a rental car.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes!” Jackson called out.
“Yeah, I was getting mighty tired of only seeing Jackson,” Matt teased, playfully jabbing Jackson in the shoulder. The pair had formed quite the friendship during their time together, one which would last a lifetime.
Hunter opted to give them each a handshake after taking in their grubby attire. “Maybe we’ll drive with the windows down. When was the last time either of you bothered to bathe?”
The boys looked at one another, then shrugged dismissively. “After how freezing that last lake turned out to be, we decided it wasn’t that important after all.”
“Yeah, I thought I’d bite my tongue off from shivering so hard,” Jackson added as he flung his backpack into the trunk of the car before getting into the front seat.
Matt and Charlie took their spots across the back seat. It felt good to have someone taking care of them for a change. The air blowing in the windows as they drove down the highway reminded Matt of Haley’s love for flying. His fingers touched the heart-shaped pendant in the same manner he’d seen her do innumerable times.
No sooner had they started driving when Hunter declared, “We’re stopping at the first place with a bathroom so you two can get cleaned up. You guys stink!” The faster they drove, the better it became, especially with all the windows down.
Hunter glanced at Matt through the rearview mirror. “I think you guys picked the hardest thing on Haley’s list. Do you think you’ll be ready for the next adventure?”
“Absolutely!” Jackson declared, already forgetting their recent hardships.
“Bring it on!” Matt stated at the same time as Jackson. Charlie barked as the boys all laughed, causing them to laugh harder. Matt pulled Charlie closer, rubbing his side affectionately, more thankful than ever that he could share this journey with a dog and people who meant so much to Haley.
Want to Help?
Find out more at…
Haley’s Heroes Foundation
Call 503-580-1736
m.me/curebattendisease
[email protected]
; https://haleysheroesfoundation.org
To keep updated on the next book to be written by Amy Proebstel, visit www.AmyProebstel.com.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AMY IS A native Oregonian and she enjoys the quiet of living in the countryside with her husband, Richard, and their daughter, Kailey. She shares her life and house with four Pomeranians and a special cat who thinks she’s a dog.
Reading and writing books has always been a passion in her life. There’s nothing better than getting pulled into other people’s journeys, feeling their emotions, and enjoying their successes. She writes when she’s inspired, usually after midnight, and the results have been fun to watch unfold as she immerses herself in the world of her characters.
This book refers to Haley's Heroes Foundation which is a real foundation set up by the Pollman family to find a cure for Batten disease for which their 9-year-old daughter, Haley, was diagnosed in 2017, and is already legally blind. At this point, Batten disease is rare, incurable, and fatal within 10 years of diagnosis.
The progression of symptoms include: blindness, muscle immobility, seizures, dementia, and death. Go to https://geni.us/Haleys_Heroes to find out how you can help with funding this important research. Children's lives literally depend on your support.
Don’t want to donate directly? When you buy The Rift In Our Reality, which follows an older version of Haley who is navigating her teenage years while fighting for her life, half of the proceeds of this Sweet Young Adult Medical Romance will go directly to the Haley's Heroes Foundation to help find the cure Haley so desperately needs.
The Rift In Our Reality: A Sweet Young Adult Romance Page 15