The Lifeguard Stand

We would walk along the beach, holding hands and talked of the plans we had for each other. I miss that, I miss that so much sometimes it makes me cry. Jesse passed away in my arms over two years ago, a memory I wish I could forget. As for me, I will always love her and never feel complete without her.

The sun was directly over me, I decided to take a walk along the water and check out what the ocean is depositing on the beach. The feel of the water on my feet cools my entire body to a comfortable temperature as I strolled along it. In the distance I could see the pilings and jetties that protrude from the ocean. Mans feeble effort to control the erosion of Mother Nature. Looking down, there are so many different kinds of shells and sea life that are just at the waters edge. I enjoy looking at them in detail. It amazes me to see the beauty that exists in them. As I continued my walk, I noticed there were several people doing the same thing as me, just relaxing and enjoying the intense nature that the ocean is sharing with us. I approached the lifeguard stand, and could see the commotion around it. There is always a denser crowd there for obvious reasons. Without warning, I started to feel a little uneasy, my hands were shaking a little and my stomach felt upset, I didn' t understand why. As I walked closer to the lifeguard stand, I felt worse, my head felt funny and the sun seemed so bright that I lost sight of everything in front of me. I sat down at the waters edge to ease the feelings that had come on to me when all went silent. My sight was gone, all I could sense was a brilliant light, and no sounds, anywhere, not even the sound of silence. The fear, which went through my body was intense; just then, I saw a figure, not a complete person, but just an outline of a human. I thought it was an angel at first, that I somehow had died and this was the gateway to the afterlife. But the closer the figure got, the more human it looked. Slowly my senses started coming back and I could softly hear the ocean crashing on the beach and the light in my eyes was becoming dimmer. The figure approached me and as it got closer I could see whom it was. My God I couldn't believe it, it was Jesse, the love of my life, the only woman I had ever loved or wanted. Each moment that went by my senses became more alive, and I could now hear the commotion on the beach and see all that was going on around me. I was sitting in the sand about ten feet behind the lifeguard stand and Jesse was walking out of the water directly at me. I could see that beautiful smile which trapped me long ago, and as she approached, I didn't question where I was or how I got there. She leaned over, grabbed a towel, which was on the sand next to me, then sat down very close and put her head on my shoulder. "I love these moments with you" she said as I put my arm around her. She looked and acted like she did years ago, and my heart was then filled with all the love I ever had for this woman. I was afraid this moment would end too soon.