The Summer that Changed Everything

Chapter 23: Looking Back on Today

Dear Len,

Remember, nothing is impossible.
The hardest part isn't finding what we need to be, it's being content with who we are.
Stay who you are. I love you more then you will ever know.
Love, Chris Chambers

Camping with Chris was wonderful although it never seemed like it lasted enough. We drove back for a while in silence. I knew Chris was thinking about where we left off on the story and it must have been hard for him. I just wanted to let him collect his thoughts. I didn't want to pry into what he was thinking. After a moment of silence he uttered these words.
"I loved all of your stories, Gordie ... but I hate the way this one had to end." He replied.
"Believe me, Chris ... you're not alone there." I said back.
I couldn't say anything else. I didn't know what to say. I had no idea what he was feeling. All I knew was how he needed me to help him remember, but I think this is the part he needed the most to forget.
I saw a car parked outside. I walked up to my front door with Chris and open it. My wife was sitting on the couch drinking tea with another woman.
"Honey, we have a visitor." I wiped my eyes and tried to get the mental picture in my mind. I thought maybe I was still imagining things.
"Lennie?" I called out.
Lennie stood up and faced me. Although she and I still speak a lot on the phone and write back and forth, we haven't seen each other in a long while. She had the diamond ring Chris bought for her on a chain around her neck. Her eyes were welling up with water.
"I miss him, Gordie. I really miss him." I didn't need to ask who she meant. I just hugged her.
"I know. How have you been?" I asked her.
"I've been getting through it. It just gets hard sometimes." She said.
"I know." I told her.
"Your wife told me that you've been writing again, a story about us?" Lennie asked.
"Yes. I have. I've started a piece. It's going well. I've been trying to come up with a title."
"The Summer that Changed Everything." Chris said. "I like the ring to that."
"Hey ... not bad." I looked over at him.
"What?" Lennie asked.
"Uh... never mind." I told her.
"Tell her that I said she looks beautiful." He said next.
"Oh. Oh. Chris said you look beautiful." I told her.
"Chris?" She raised her eyebrow.
"Oh I meant ... if Chris were here he would have told you, you looked beautiful." I rephrased what I meant.
"Thanks. Well I'm glad you are writing again. I read The Body. I really loved it." She told me.
"Thanks." I replied back.
"I want you to meet somebody." She said next.
My son, a friend and another younger boy came running up the stairs. The boy had on a white shirt and jeans and piercing blue eyes. For a moment I had to do a double take.
"Chris?" I asked. "Is that you?"
"Chris." Lennie said. "Say hi to your, uncle Gordie."
"Hi Uncle Gordie." The boy replied.
He ran laughing with my son and his friend. "I wanna play, I wanna play."
"I named him after his daddy." She said.
"He is ...?" I stuttered on my words.
"Yeah." She said. "I found out the day after he passed away."
"Oh wow." I couldn't believe it. "How old is he? He looks just like him. It's..."
"Eerie. I know. He just turned 6. I see Chris in his eyes every day. I was meaning to come visit more and tell you about this, but things back home just got really crazy. I don't talk to my father at all. He and Alice just got divorced. I had to take care of little Chris basically by myself. But it kept me going."
"It's ok." I told her. "I think it's wonderful. Really, really great." I started crying and I hugged Lennie. "I'm here for you. Me and my wife. Always."
Little Chris ran in the kitchen now and tugged on my pants.
I looked down.
"Did you know my daddy?" He asked me.
"Yes I did. He was my best friend." I told him.
"My mommy says that you and daddy were heroes." Little Chris said.
I picked him up and sat him on my lap.
"Your father was a great person, Chris." I told him.
"Does that mean I'm gonna be great too?" He asked me.
"You can count on that." I told him.
I kissed him on his head and put him down.
I stood outside now with my best friend smoking Winchesters and making bulls eyes in the air. We laughed about unimportant things. Chris told me how much he still loved Lennie and how much he couldn't believe his son looked like him, but things now felt finished and he was content with that.
"So whatcha gonna do now?" I asked.
"I gotta get back their sometime." Chris told me.
"Where?" I asked.
"Heaven." Chris returned.
"I bet it gets lonely in heaven sometimes." I told him.
"Nah ... It's not too bad. I have Vern and Teddy to chill with and Ray and Denny too."
"Tell em I said hi." I asked.
"I will." Chris looked at me with a smile. "Look after Lennie and my boy for me, will ya?"
"I will. I promise." I told him.
"Gimme some skin." Chris said. I touched his hand just like we did in the past and I looked at him.
"So...I guess I'll see you." I said.
Chris smiled at me—I knew this was coming—"Not if I see you first."

The End