THE MEADOW'S EDGE

A true love story.

It was a warm day as I walked to the meadow. Silver Creek was a place where I did all my thinking and planning. This day was no different. The sky was blue, and it was hot for September 3rd. Nothing different at all until I reached that meadow.

There I saw her. Someone had invaded my area. What do I do now? I slowly made my way to her to introduce myself. When I reached her, she turned and looked up at me. Her hair was a gold as the sun, and her eyes as blue as the sky. I tried to speak, but actually stumbled on my words. “H h hello, m m my name is Billy, and I live just down the road.” I pointed in the direction I lived. She stood up, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Hello Billy. I’m Lillian, and I live just down the road too, but in the other direction.” They must have bought Mr. Bonner’s old place. He died about a year ago and the house was empty until now. Lillian then said, “I should be getting home now to help momma with supper.” I asked if I could walk with her and she said yes. We talked plenty, and I learned she was 14 years old. Just a year younger than me. We talked about school starting in a couple days, and she was nervous about it. Being the new girl and all, she didn’t want the other girls to make fun of her. I guess it’s hard being the new kid in class, but then she said I was her very first friend in Willow Canyon. Don’t know why, but it kinda made me feel good. We reached her house and her momma was sitting on the old porch waiting. Lillian introduced me, and I think she took a liking to me. She went in the house and came out with some lemonade. I told her if she wanted, I could fix some things on this porch for her, before it fell apart. She agreed to that. I left telling her what my momma taught me to say, “Was a pleasure meeting you ma’am.”

I didn’t see Lillian until school started. That morning I gave my momma a kiss and walked to the dirt road, and there she was….waiting. She had on a yellow dress with pink roses on it, and a pink bow in her golden hair. I was never one for school, but I had a feeling this year I just might like it.
The day was good. Lillian made new friends, and I saw my old friends. We got a new teacher, Miss Glorie, and my friends took a quick liking to her cuz she was pretty. Seemed I only had eyes for Lillian though. I walked her home again, and there was her momma on the porch with lemonade. I fixed one of the steps before leaving for home.

The days were getting a bit cooler now, and when winter finally came, it was a cold one and a hard one. With my papa gone, I was the man of the house. It was up to me to do repairs, chop wood for the fireplace, and to put food on the table. Hunting was not something I enjoyed, but it was necessary to survive.

We never put up a Christmas tree, but this year, Lillian and I went out to chop a couple down. One for her house, and one for ours. We made ornaments and decorated both trees. Our families spent this wonderful holiday together. Turkey was always our dinner, and my momma would make part of the trimmings, while Kate (Lillian’s momma) made the other part. I never saw such a grand holiday table.

Lillian became the love of my life. I didn’t think I could live without her. We walked to the meadow one day, and at the very edge, I found myself asking her to be my wife. We married a few months later, and I was thankful my mother was there to share this day with us. Papa died from influenza before I even met Lillian, and her father had also passed. Our wedding day was warm, sunny and bright. We married in the meadow amid all those colorful wildflowers.

I built 3 more rooms on to that old house, and brought it back to life. A year later we had a baby boy and named him William (after me). Two years later came our little girl, and we named her Virginia (after my mother) who died from cancer the year before. Kate (Lillian’s mother) came to live with us because she was getting up in age and needed help with certain things. She passed from heart failure just after Christmas in 1980.

Life was different after. The kids grew up. William married and had 3 children. Ron, William III, and Margaret. Virginia, who we called Ginny, also married. She had 2 children, Mary and Joshua. Time passed, as it always does, but with Lillian at my side, my life was complete.

Lillian and I lost our Ginny when she was 42 years old. She went out dancing one night after her divorce, and someone slipped a drug into her drink. She didn’t stand a chance. Our little Ginny was gone. We have an area behind the house where the forest begins. We cleared it out for a family cemetery, and there she lies, along with the rest of our dear family. We go there often and bring flowers from the meadow.

My Lillian joined her in 1995 at the age of 82. My love, my life, my soulmate was gone. How will I carry on? For the children's sake, I had to do my best.

A few years passed, and we celebrated my 90th birthday. Everyone was there. William, his wife, Ruth and their three, who had children of their own now. Ginny’s two children were taken in and raised by William and Ruth. They came to celebrate along with their children. It was quite an enjoyable time.

As I sat there, I longed to see that meadow one more time. So I got up, walked to the dirt road, and went to that beautiful meadow where the wildflowers still grew. When I got there, my Lillian was sitting by the water’s edge, and when I approached her, she turned and looked up at me with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. She had a bluebell in one hand and a wild rose in the other. She handed me the bluebell. I sat down next to her and took her hand. I never let it go. Now the family comes out back to visit us all, and I could honestly say that I had a wonderful life.
It certainly had it’s twists and turns along that dirt road, but Lillian and I made it through each of them. We were truly blessed.