Southern Indiana Living - Sept / Oct 2022

Embers erupt from
the fire built from
wood still too damp
to burn properly,
sending pops and
crackles off in every direction.
He smiles to himself as he
imagines nature is putting on a
fireworks show just for him. His
wife has been asleep long
enough his arm tingles all the
way down to his fingertips, but
he won’t dare disturb her. As
his wife breathes the slow, soft
melody of sleep, her husband
watches the fire.
He notices as the embers shoot
from the heart of the blaze into
the inky sky, disappearing into
the fog settling onto the lake,
and his mind drifts back. He
looks at the elderly woman
sleeping so comfortably on his
shoulder and thinks back to the
day he met her, then on their
wedding day three years later.
He remembers how the two of
them stood side by side from
when they met during college to
when she transitioned from
young professional to retiree; as
they became parents, then
became grandparents.
16 • Sept/Oct 2022 • Southern Indiana Living