White Butterfly

A Story by JS

Story of the union of a man and a woman.

She glowed - more than other women - and her personality infectious. The symmetrical smile of her full lips, the shine of her bright blue eyes and the wave of her blonde hair fashioned an energy that was unparalleled. It was naturally her, certainly not birthed of her recent past - which was unsettling and the reason for her melancholy.

She pondered a lot of questions. Why didn’t I see this before? Why was I so blind? What was I thinking? Where did the last eleven years go? Why would God do this to me? What next? The questions were reasonable and anyone would fall victim to them, but with each question a new weight was dropped on her shoulders - the weight bogged her down and discouraged her.

Her friends encouraged with kind words. You can’t look back. You’re still so young. God has a plan for you. You’ll find love soon. She smiled at these words and sometimes cried when she heard them - because all she had was hope and with all the weight on her shoulders, hope may not be enough.

The confluence of tragedies can kill a person’s spirit. A failed marriage, a death in the family and a business in decline is almost too much for one to bear - in a lifetime, much less in the span of one year. She clung onto family, friends and the hope of new beginnings - praying that in the end the weight would be lifted and she would one day fly again like a white butterfly - the symbol of hope, change and rebirth.

When her friends and family encouraged moving on: I know a guy. Go out with him. What do you have to lose? It will do you good. She was skeptical and honestly a bit hesitant. But, he called her and she can be too nice at times, so she said “yes”. She committed herself to dinner and maybe a budding friendship - what could that hurt?

The dinner led to more dinners. The dinners led to trips together and the talk of something bigger and better. Days turned into weeks, which became months. The misfortunes of the past dissolved like sugar in bitter tea leaving behind something very sweet and tasty. Neither she nor he could drink enough of each other.

Wise words handed down from his parents: Learn from the past, live in the present, but be mindful of the future was a bit of this couple’s mantra. A mantra he forgot during his voyage toward her. He was sad about the past, eager to get out of the present and live his future, a self-destructive and self-centered way to meander through life. What good is the present if you can’t enjoy it?

With her, he lived in the present. She was therapy for his past and he for hers. Over the course of their many months together, they became inseparable and interdependent with one another. Her friends and family - the ones who nudged her in his direction - smiled for her and knew this butterfly was coming out of her shell and spreading her wings and preparing to soar.

And a young woman who hit a bump in the road at thirty-eight, who was teetering on the precipice of hope and destruction and found rebirth. Two people meandered through time, born and raised one-hundred fifty miles apart and through the force of their own free will and the gentle Hand of God, were united like two paths merging in the wilderness to become one. Those paths were forged by family, friends, hope, loss and forgiveness and now travel together through time as if the two paths were always intended to lead to this single point.

When he handed her a typewritten piece of paper and watched her read the description of their journey, he observed tears trickling down her face and thought about the road in front of them.

And, when he thought about their paths - converged - he knew the words, “will you marry me?” were the right words. And, when she saw those words, she knew hope had prevailed through love " she would soar like the white butterfly. And, through her lips, she muttered with a trembling voice the answer to his question…