A Winter's Night in the Country
by
Violette Kuly
Late one evening in January 2001, the phone rang. It was the nurse from the Betel Home. She was letting Mandy know her father was failing. He had been failing since before Christmas. As a matter of fact, he spent Christmas in the hospital. "Dad, hang in there. We have no time for funerals," she teased him. He did just that, hang in. So this call from the nursing home had to be serious. The call made her feel uneasy. She couldn't settle down. Her husband suggested she go and be with her Dad. He was feeling too poorly to go with her. "Yes," she said, immediately jumping up, looking out the window. All seemed calm and it was only ten below.
Getting the half mile to the main highway was no problem. Soon after turning onto the highway she suddenly was in a mesmerizing snowstorm and had six more miles to go. There was no turning back. She slowed down, cars trailing behind her. Mandy wasn't accustomed to night driving; they would never go out in weather like this! She was nervous but focused, and wouldn't give an owl's hoot if there were a hundred vehicles trailing behind her. She would be turning soon. Eyes straining to see as the snow flew past her like stars in the night sky. Turning north, the string of cars left her but the blowing snow hadn't.
I'll never drive home in this stormy weather. I'll stay the night at the nursing home. I'll phone home to let them know that I will see them in the morning." This was her plan and she felt better for it.
She finally arrived at her destination. When she entered her Dad's room, she could see that he had just passed away. Moments later a friend came into the room and stared in disbelief. He had been in town doing some errands and just dropped by for a visit. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," was all he could say. He was like an angel standing there as she felt so alone.
Shortly a nurse walked in and put her stethoscope to his chest. "Yes," she nodded, "he's gone. But I'll get another nurse. You had better get home before the weather gets worse." She worried about her angel-friend. He hesitated, then left.
The nurse returned with another who confirmed his death. "You can leave his things here tonight. No hurry. Take your time with him," instructed one of the nurses. They left her alone to be with her Dad.
She stood there looking at the pictures around the room. One had her parents seated together with her father's arm around her. They had been married for seventy-one years. Two pillars of strength for their four children teaching them Bible principles. Her Mom had passed away four and a half years earlier. It became routine to visit Dad every Sunday. Time has a way of making changes. She would visit him no more. Tears welled up so that she couldn't see. "Good-bye, Dad," she sobbed finally.
"I can't stay here tonight. I've got to get home is what I've got to do!" Out the door to her car she went. "This time I'll take the back road," she thought.
The dark wintry night was surprisingly calm. She made her way slowly down the winding back road. She was sheltered by the trees, which stopped the windy conditions. Or was the hand of God in this? Did she see angels in the snow? The clean white snowy blanket and black starry sky made her feel like drifting into another world. The door has closed. Another will open. Her Dad's struggles in stormy weather were past. She was alone but didn't feel alone.
Finally she turned into the long driveway of her home. The lights from the windows were like a beacon guiding her into the home stretch. She felt relieved.
She was glad she had ventured out to see her Dad for the last time.
There are times such as these when neither snow, nor sleet, nor wind can keep a senior citizen down.