Letters for Sally

Chapter 21

Chapter 21
Sally stepped out of the car and smelled the air, it wasn't fresh and crisp like she had grown to love.  It smelled of Garbages, restaurants waste competing, and car pollution. She realized she had never noticed it before.  It wasn't bad or strong but it was there and she did not find it pleasurable.  She was already starting to miss the Montana air and the sweet smell of spring with the flowers in full bloom.  She grabbed her bag and walked up to the hotel entrance with Harry right beside her.  She took a deep breath and then asked the door man to let them in.  He smiled and said, "Miss. Sally I have missed your bright smile and positive attitude.  Did you enjoy your stay in the countryside?"  Sally smiled at him, he was a pleasant man, "Yes, very much and I missed all of you as well."  He opened the doors and let them in.  When they got to the elevator Sally and Harry stepped in. " You can do this Sally, your going to figure everything out."  Sally looked at him trying to hold back tears, "I just miss my mom.  She won't be there when I get to the apartment.  I won't be able to give her a hug and tell her I missed her while I was gone.  I won't be able to sit down and tell her all about you and Maggie and Hotah."  Tears started to sting her eyes and Harry's eyes began to fill with tears too.  He couldn't fix it.  She had to experience this part of the grief, she had to face reality in its home base.  She would need to feel the feelings of her mother not being in their home anymore.  All Harry could do was be there, hold her, love her and give her words as needed.  All he wanted to do was take the pain from this child he had grown to love like his own but he couldn't. This was a battle for her alone to fight and her alone to endure.  He could support her but he could not fix this.  Only God's grace, time and her submission to acceptance and peace will help her.

Sally opened the door to the apartment and immediately the scent of her mother flooded her nostrils.  Her sweet perfume, the smell of apples and cinnamon... It was her childhood home, the smell of her life with her mom.  Her tears were beginning to fall steady down her face without a sound and Harry struggled to keep from wrapping her up in his arms and protecting her from this pain. She looked around slowly taking every inch of her mother's space into her eyes.  It was like a movie or some other world, but now she was back in it.  She looked at the picture books still out on the table.  She looked at the pamphlets Harry had given her and Roger for the Ranch, she saw her mother's raincoat and umbrella hanging on the wall and thought of when she used to walk everywhere.  A world of memories flooded her mind as she took in the sight of what once was.  She felt like she had not been there in years.  She didn't make a sound and continued to walk in each room remembering her mother, brushing her hair, cleaning the home, working in her study, reading a book, sitting and drinking coffee in the early morning, smiling and patting the seat beside her to motion for Sally to join.  Sally's tears were falling down her face and her face was wet enough now that she wiped the tears with her sleeve.  Harry stood quietly behind her, ready to catch her, hold her, comfort her.  He had never had a child before but he knew what it must have felt like for Dale when he had her as a little one.  This overwhelming desire to protect, keep safe, fix everything, and comfort her.  He was a blessed man that God allowed him to experience this kind of relationship.  He knew in that moment he would love this little girl forever.  It wouldn't matter what her life would bring he would move heaven and earth to be a part of it.

Sally entered her mother's room and sat on the bed.  She ran her long fingers over her mother pillow and comforter.  She looked at the leather-bound chest at the foot of the bed and smiled.  She cherished the journals and letters.  She looked at her closet and her little table with the mirror where her mother would put on her lotion and light makeup on after her shower.  She looked up at Harry and smiled, "I will miss her Harry.  My mother was a strong woman, a woman with grace and always had the right answers.  She helped a lot of people and I just want to be half the woman she was."  Harry smiled down at her, "Honey you are more than half at only 17. You are so much like your mother already and as you grow and keep maturing with life lessons you will continue to become an amazing woman just like her.  She was a good woman and you will always have her close because she is part of you.  I am so proud of you right now Sally."  He walked over and hugged her and she put her head into his upper waistline.  She cried for a few moments and then lifted her head and looked up at him with a smile.  "Harry we have work to do.  I will call down to the lobby and order boxes. I have no idea where I am going but I know I don't want to live here.  I will go through my mother's stuff and put everything I want on the bed.  Then I will pack what I want from my room and the rest of the house.  I will label the furniture I want and I want you to go and see if anything would be something you and Maggie might like for your home too.  I will get movers and such involved once I talk to the lawyer and figure out what is going to happen with my life.