ESCAPE - Chapter 3

     I went out to my car and drove to the hospital. I found the room number for Deborah Wrangle and went up to that floor. As I passed the nurses’ station, a nurse stopped me.

    “Where are you going?”

    “I would like to see Deborah Wrangle.”

    “Are you on the list?”

    “What list?”

    “There is a list of people who can visit her. Are you her minister?”

    “I don’t know where she goes to church. Her husband called about an hour ago and asked me to come to the hospital and visit her.”

    The charge nurse hesitated. A nurse behind her said,

    “Let him go ahead. He has been a minister in this town for years. He’s honest. If he says Mr. Wrangle called, probably Mrs. Wrangle asked for him. Goodness knows that she needs help from above.”

    The scene in Mrs. Wrangle’s room looked all too familiar. She looked just like Laura had looked for the past week or so. My stomach tightened and my breath caught. How can I endure this? I am only human. I need to be grieving for Laura. Instead I am faced with a rerun of her agony. Mr. Wrangle greeted me with a nervous handshake and a tortured look on his face. I approached the bed and Mrs. Wrangle’s eyes brightened.

    “Thank you for coming”, she whispered.

    I read a Psalm and then placed my hand on her hand and prayed. My heart poured out as I prayed. I believe that the Lord directed me there by His gracious providence. I felt my soul stir with the conviction that He intended to work powerfully in her and that He wanted the Wrangles to know that it was the Lord who had worked. I left the hospital convinced that she was going to begin improving. I don’t remember ever feeling that way after a hospital visit.

    It was lunch time. I stopped at the Chinese restaurant and ordered a meal to take out. The clerk took my money, handed me a takeout container, and pointed to the buffet.

    At home after I ate, I bolted to my study. The visit to Mrs. Wrangle had inspired my sermon for Sunday. I wouldn’t look for an old sermon. There was a sermon that was fresh and was overflowing from my heart. I sat at my desk and the message seemed to pour onto the computer screen. I have a Bible program that I run simultaneously with the word processing program. As Bible verses would come to mind, I would use the search function in the Bible program. When I found the reference, then I would paste the verse into the sermon. 

    The sermon that formed itself was “THE POWER OF GOD”. I had three main points God’s Power To Overcome Sin, God’s Power To Overcome Pain and Suffering, and God’s Power To Overcome Death. I was at the computer for over five hours, but at the end of that time I had a sermon for Sunday. I printed it out and put the pages in my Bible on the desk.

    It was dark outside when I left the study and went to the kitchen to make a cup of instant decaf coffee. While I was drinking it, the phone rang.

    “Dad, this is Philip. We just checked in to the motel. Have you had supper yet?”

    “Hey, Philip, it is so good to hear your voice. No, I haven’t eaten yet. I worked all afternoon on my sermon for Sunday. I had just finished and came out of the study to make myself a cup of coffee.”

    “Good. We’ll pick up a couple pizzas on the way and be at your place in a half hour or so.”

It was reassuring to hear Philip’s voice and to know that he was in town. Philip, the first born. The Bible speaks of the significance of a man’s first born son, the strength of his youth. I had always thought that if I had big trouble that Philip is the one that I would turn to for help.

    When Philip and Molly came through the front door, carrying sleepy Billy and Polly in their arms, my loneliness was swept away. I showed Phil and Molly back to my bedroom so they could lay Billy and Polly on the bed. Both of them went to sleep immediately or maybe they were already asleep.

    We went to the dining room table and opened the pizza boxes. I retrieved my coffee cup and asked if they wanted tea, coffee or soda. They both opted for cold water. I retrieved a couple bottles of water from the refrigerator. After we had eaten our fill of pizza, we retired to the living room.

    “Dad, we need to talk about a looming problem. As soon as the motel clerk saw my name, she asked if I was related to Reverend Sterner. She then proceeded to tell me what she thought I ought to know. She said that the preacher’s wife was calling for help and ringing her bell, but the preacher just slept on through it, or maybe deliberately didn’t help her because he wanted her inheritance. I know that she is repeating malicious gossip, but we have to decide how we are going to deal with it.”

    “Philip, I have heard part of the gossip. This the first time I have heard Laura’s inheritance added to the gossip. Here are the facts. I slept soundly through the night when Laura died. I found her with her mouth wide open and her hand clutching the schoolmarm bell. Her body was cold and stiff. Mrs. Koontz, one of Laura’s aides came soon after that and when I told her that Laura was dead, she shoved past me and went into Laura’s room. She began to tell all over town that Laura had cried out for help and rung her bell for help but that either I was sleeping through all that noise, or else I wasn’t even in the house.

    “When Dr. Rumfeldt heard of that gossip, he left his office and came here to see me. He told me that Laura was much too weak to cry out for help, that she was probably trying to gasp for air, but her diaphragm and lungs had ceased to function. He said that even if she had rung the bell and I had come to help her, there was nothing I could have done.  Patsy Godwin, the hospice nurse, said that if I had called them, they could not have sent an ambulance. As part of Laura’s Living Will there was a Do Not Resuscitate order.

    “As for the inheritance: Of the original $250,000 there is slightly more than $30,000 left. The rest of it was spent on medical bills and paying for aides to be with her.”

    “Dad, I believe you. I am warning you that gossip is vicious and you are going to be hurt. You don’t deserve that, especially when you are hurting over Mom’s death.”

    Molly came and together with Phil hugged me.  They went to the bedroom for the children, put on their coats and hats, and left to go back to the motel. I put the remaining pizza slices in baggies and placed them in the refrigerator. Then I threw the pizza boxes in the trash. I locked the front door, turned out the lights, and went back to the bedroom.

**********

    At the motel Tom, Matthew, and Traci were venting. They heard the same story that Phil heard when they checked in. The three had driven to a neighboring town to an Italian restaurant that served mixed drinks with the meals. They had had drinks on the plane, had taken on more alcohol at supper. Now an open bottle of single malt Scotch was on the table in Matthew and Traci’s room.

    Tom - “We’re not going to let him get away with it. All the time when we were growing up, he was always too busy with his church work. It was Mom who was always there for us. Now we hear that Mom died because he neglected her just like he neglected us.”

    Matthew - “Not only so, but Mom told me soon after she got that inheritance that it was going to be for the children after she was gone. That inheritance belongs to us, not to him. I’m going to get it if I have to wring it out of him.”

    Traci – “With one of you being a lawyer and the other an accountant, you could really make life uncomfortable.”

    Tom and Matthew clinked their glasses together.

**********

    I went to bed and prayed that I would be able to sleep. A verse from the Psalms darted about in my mind. It says something about the bread of sorrow and then “…He gives His beloved sleep.” Almost as soon as I shut my eyes I was asleep. In my sleep I dreamed of Laura. I dreamed of happier times, of Laura smiling, laughing, and giggling.

    Saturday after breakfast and personal devotions, I checked my clothes to be sure that I had enough white shirts ironed for the public viewing this evening, the worship service tomorrow, and the funeral service. I had my sermon for tomorrow. I tried to plan Laura’s funeral service. I had the Scripture passages that Laura had asked to be used in her funeral and the hymns she had picked. I knew from long experience that family members often wanted to participate. One or more of our sons might want to speak about his memories of his mother. I doubted if any of them would want to sing or read a poem.

    The door bell rang. It was Mrs. Alfritz, president of the women’s society at Church.

    “Mrs. Alfritz, it is so good of you to stop by. I can’t invite you to come in because I am here alone and I don’t think it would be proper. It would look unseemly even though it is not. We can talk out here on the porch.”

    “Pastor, I just wanted you to know that the women’s society will have refreshments in the Fellowship Hall following the worship service tomorrow for the congregation to express their condolences to the family members. Please announce that in the service tomorrow.”

    “That is so gracious and thoughtful of you ladies, Mrs. Alfritz. Please express my appreciation to them.”

    She smiled and retreated down the steps.

    That brought another thought to my mind. I called the motel and asked for Philip.

    “Philip, this is Dad. After the funeral we will go out to Hazelwood Presbyterian Church for the burial. By the time that is over it will be close to 6 p.m. It might be nice for the whole family to go to some restaurant and have supper together. Would you get together with Tom and Matthew, find out where they would like to go and then make reservations at the restaurant for us? They might have a private room that we could use.”

    “Sure, Dad, that sounds like a good idea. I’ll get right on it.”

    “While you are talking to them, find out if any or all of you want to have a chance to share your memory of your Mom during the funeral service.”

    “I know that I do.”

    “Thank you, Philip. Tell Molly that while she is here, if there is anything that was Laura’s that she would like to have, I’m sure Laura would like her to have it. Laura loved Molly like a daughter. She would want Laura to remember her.”

    “We aren’t leaving until Tuesday. Monday we can come over and discuss that.”

    I went out for a walk. I knew I should be at the house, but I just had to walk off all the tension and all the mixed emotions that had become tangled up in my mind. I wanted to grieve for Laura, but it seemed like there was a crowd of people conspiring to prevent me from grieving and feeling the loss of someone I loved very deeply.  I walked and walked until I was out of breath and becoming weak. When I returned to the house I ate a bagel and then fell asleep on the couch.

    I was awakened by a loud banging on the door. It was Nathaniel.

    “Nathaniel, it is so good to see you. How are you?”

    “Well, coming here I was just sad, and feeling bad for you. I know how much you loved Mom. When I got to the motel some flip mouthed broad began to tell me a bunch of vicious gossip about Mom’s death before I had even registered. I told her that if she was a man I would punch her in the face. As it was, I wasn’t going to stay in a motel that hired witches. With that I turned around and left the motel. If it is all right with you, I’ll crash on your sofa the next two nights.”