Adam Blake - 169. Chapter 169

Time flies and certain events remind us of that. For me, there were two events, the fair at the end of the season and the enrollment at the beginning of the season. The pain in my back and the need for bigger clothes also reminded me that I was getting old. Marie and I talked about retirement. I wasn’t ready to retire, but Marie changed my mind.

“Adam, I’m ready to retire. I’ve worked hard, and now I think I need some me time, and so do you. We can retire to the cabin, and you’ll see the boys and girls like always on the weekends. We can come back for the fair and the start of the new year. Morgan will keep you informed. I’m sure you’ll be his confidant as Richard was for you.”

I was 78 when she made that proposal. Mom and Dad had passed on, Billy was a successful engineer, Scotty was a successful coach after playing pro ball, and Buster followed in Scotty’s footsteps, now playing pro ball.

I began to think why not when Jen called and said that Bill was in the hospital with a heart attack and asking for me. I think that was the light that made me decide this would be my last season as head of the schools.

We took the copter to see Bill. Jen said the doctors think there isn’t anything they could do. The attack was massive. I stayed with them until the doctors told us Bill had died. That was a terrible blow for me. Something I never expected to happen, not to my brother Bill. But I took it as a sign to retire and enjoy what time I had left.

At the next meeting of the Board, I announced that I would be retiring at the end of the season and Morgan would take over as headmaster. “Dad, you may retire as headmaster, but not from the Board.”

So I’d stay on as a Board member, Marie agreed to that.

They say disaster strikes in three. First, I lost Richard, then Bill, but the third devastated me. Marie told me she didn’t have long to live. She has cancer that can’t be treated, and at best, she has 2 to 3 years left. That tore me up. I couldn’t see my life without her. She was my partner, my one and only. I prayed for her to be cured, but it didn’t happen.

I was 80 when she turned the worst. “Adam, grant me a wish. I want to be buried here on the apple hill, overlooking the cabins and lake.”

I had Henry’s firm come and build a structure to house two coffins; It was partly sunk in the ground, lined with concrete, and made watertight. I would lie next to her as I did in life I’ll do in death.

As she became more dependent, I hired around-the-clock nurses. I’d do as she wished. She wanted her last views to be of the lake. I carried her to a bed I had on the cabin’s porch so she could see the lake and the boys fishing. She smiled, closed her eyes, and left me in a heavy sigh. I cried like I never cried before. The boys saw me and came right away. "Call this number and the clinic doctor."

Marie’s visitation was at the chapel at the school. She had many friends, and they came to pay their respect. Her interment was on the hill. I sat there every day for several months, waiting to join her. One night Dad came to me with Richard and told me I must live a little longer. Marie was there and said the children would need me, so I must live until my time.

From that night on, I made a vow, I’ll never leave the cabin, I’ll visit her every day, and there will always be fresh flowers, the kind she liked. Richard moved the Directors meeting to the cabin, and the boys came with their families. I was surrounded by love. Richard said the love you gave never went away, and it’s now coming back.