Going with the Floe
“I’ll see you later, Flo-eee. I’m meeting up with the boys for our Wednesday golf outing, then we’ll have lunch at Phil’s afterward,” said Herb.
“Good riddance, she thought, I’m so glad he’s out of the house”, said Florence, grumbling to herself. Just then the phone rang and she picked it up to chat with her younger neighbor friend Winnie, who called most mornings around this time to check up on Floe. “Yes, Winnie, he’s gone. I get so frustrated with him sometimes. There’s so much to do around our house and yard, but all he does is fly away to play his games and meet up with his chums, or dawdle at the coffee shop. He’s an expert at getting out of hard work, that’s for sure, even after 52 years of marriage.”
Herb was now 76 years old, but still quite active and healthy, while Floe just turned 72 last month, and struggles now and then with a bad hip. Floe remains a hard working, no-nonsense bundle of strength and energy, and very proud of her blue collar heritage and work ethic.
Yet it was love at first sight long ago, when she saw him standing outside the Bijou movie theater after seeing some Godzilla movie. Something inside of her knew he was the one, guided her to act, and so she took aim, and he didn’t stand a chance.
In a few short weeks, Herb was totally hers, and he soon proposed to her. Florence Esther Gannett and Herbert William Lang were married several months later on a beautiful sunny Spring day. From the very start she always called him Herb, and he called her Floe. But after a few months he added the E (for Esther) for emphasis and called her “Flo-eee”. She originally bristled at this pet name, but over time she became fond of it.
Life went on, and on, and on, and their years together became decades. Children came, grew up and flew off to various ends of the world. Years of career work finally ended and retirement arrived. They kept themselves as healthy and fit as they could, loved each other, and fought the normal bitter battles, too.
“Of course I appreciate your calls, Winnie, it’s just that I have so many things to do today … hmmm, what’s …oh, there’s a knock at the door. I’ll have to go see. Oh, it's Sam Hawkins, the police officer, hmm, okay Winnie, catch you tomorrow. Thank you for calling”, said Floe.
Mrs. Gannett? May I please come in? Oh thank you, but no, nothing for me. I've come to tell you about Mr. Lang, your husband, I am very sorry to tell you this, but Mr. Lang collapsed at the golf course and died. The doctor at the hospital said .....
Floe couldn't hear anything now. Her view whirled and spun, a tightness gripped her chest, she ceased breathing, and fell into a deep black darkness. She had fainted, and as she slowly awoke, she recognized Sam and another officer stooping over her, asking her if she could see and hear.
"What happened? Where am I? Yes, I can see. No, nothing hurts. I must have fallen. Can you help me up? I need to prepare dinner for my husband."
The officers helped her to a nearby chair, gave her a glass of water, and sat with her. She stared at the floor, sipping the water very slowly, then looked up at Sam, and said "Oh, he isn't coming home" and began to sob.
Those first days without him were unreal and full of constant tears. The children all arrived, and after the funeral, they set up a schedule among them, each committing to stay at least a week or so. Winnie came over twice a day, cooked for Floe, and helped her as needed. Those days of grief turned into weeks and then into months, but then the constant companionship of friends and family finally started to subside.
You are such a God-send, Winnie. Thank you so much for being there for me. Yes, I’m going to finally visit all of my children. One is in Delaware, one outside of Detroit, and the youngest now lives in York, England. I’ll be gone for 5 weeks seeing them all. Thank you for keeping an eye on my house. Come over Wednesday afternoon and I’ll hand you the keys. No, I’ve arranged a taxi to take me to the airport.
Her stays with her elder children were wonderful, full of activity, and a lot of quality time being with them and her grandchildren. Her passport finally arrived and Winnie sent it to her. Floe was very excited to see her youngest and to finally visit England. Soon she was flying, somewhere over the Atlantic, unable to sleep.
Her thoughts went inward, with recollections of her life with Herb, and a longing to see and hear him again. She had brought her favorite photo of him, and used it as a bookmark. Soon she drifted into a gentle slumber and fell deeply into sleep.
The screams and chaos woke her. Everyone around her was in deep fear, and she could feel the plane battered by very heavy turbulence. A cacophony of sound rose around her, as the plane started to descend, but to her surprise, Floe just took a deep breath, gently smiled, and began to relax and go deeply inward.
She didn’t know how the life vest got on her, nor how she ended up in that rubber raft. The waves were surprisingly mild and large icebergs loomed about serenely in the quiet of a black night. Then a cold breeze arrived and she became very cold, but did not panic. She just stared at the giants of ice, noticing their immensity and their very slow movements.
A calmness arrived and she noticed a tiny warmth in her hands, closed her eyes, and focused her mind on it. The warmth grew and spread throughout her body and soothed her. She fell into a deep sleep. When she awoke she was staring up at a bright light in a hospital room on some ship, under the care of a nurse. In her clenched hand was that old photo of Herb. She smiled and knew that he was still with her and the warmth returned again and stayed with her till the end of her days.
