A Promise Kept - Segment #6
“You know that I love you, right?” Jack asked one evening at dusk as they sat on the sand at Ocean Beach near the long wooden pier. They had removed their shoes and buried their toes and were watching the burnt orange sun set over the Pacific.
Annabelle stared at Jack mouthing the words. She felt his words in her mind as much as she heard them.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I woke up in that medical tent and saw you hovering over me. I thought I’d died and you were my angel, except that I hurt so damn bad I figured I couldn’t be dead.”
It took a moment for the words to register. Annabelle grinned.
“And you love me too, right?” he continued, hope filling his eyes.
Annabelle nodded; her face brushed in the glow of the late afternoon sun. “You know I do. Where are you going with this?”
“I want you to be my wife,” Jack announced.
He pulled his feet out of the sand, turned around and kneeled in front of her. He reached into his back pocket, removed a small box and opened it. A ring with a small, sparkling diamond glittered in the waning sunlight. Annabelle stared at the ring, stared at Jack. Time passed as slow as the mountains move.
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
“Sure?” he shouted. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I want to take care of you the way you took care of me. And I will. I want a family with you. I want to grow old with you. I’ll take care of you until the end of our lives.”
Tears trickled out the corners of her eyes. She reached up and wiped them away.
“Why are you crying?” he asked, his brow wrinkled with anxiety. “Are you turning me down?”
“No, you silly man, I adore you and yes, I would be honored to be your wife.”
“Then why the tears?”
“Because I’m so happy,” she responded as a flood of tears let loose, flowing down her reddened cheeks.
They married a month later. The following year Annabelle gave birth to their daughter, the sunlight of their lives. Jack spoiled the little girl almost as much as he spoiled Annabelle. That same year he returned to work on his father’s fishing boat. It provided a good income for them, allowing them to buy a house in Little Italy and a car of their own. When Sal retired Jack took over the boat which he operated until the tuna fishing industry died out in San Diego. By then he was ready to do something else. He took a job working in the aerospace industry where he stayed until he retired and he and Annabelle were ready to take it easy.
They traveled to places they had always wanted to see, such as the Italian town where the Marino family lived before moving to San Diego. They spent time with their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. They lived a simple, full life, filled with daily joys.
Then life wasn’t so simple for Annabelle anymore. She misplaced things. She got lost going to the market and coming home. She couldn’t remember the names of family members and lifelong friends. A few times she even forgot Jack’s name. Jack grew more and more concerned about Annabelle. Her forgetfulness was getting worse. But it wasn’t just forgetting, it was forgetting things that she should have remembered. Important things that mattered. Then she would be fine for a few weeks and it would start all over again. If he asked her about it she would tell him it was nothing, that she was tired or distracted or some other excuse. Jack knew it was more than that, something wasn’t right.
