Let me narrate this for you.
A rental car pulled into the quiet cemetery and parked. The driver side door opened, and a white-haired, retired Army colonel stepped out. He had long ago ceased wearing the uniform, but his demeanor and haircut were hallmarks that remained from his years of service. Reaching back into the car, he retrieved a bouquet from the passenger seat. Carnations, extra baby’s breath. Most people disregarded the baby’s breath as superfluous additions, but she always loved them. It had been years since he last came through the area, but he had nevertheless maintained a standing order at the local florist for just such an occasion.
His light blue eyes surveyed the yard as he made his way to where she lay, barely making note of the various headstones along the way. The groundskeepers always had managed their charges well, he noted, and then he was there.
Kneeling down, he placed the bouquet on her grave and simply silently sat, his solemn expression doing all it could to hide the turmoil within.
Drip. Drip.
It seemed that it was going to rain today, after all. There was an umbrella back in the car, but he chose to remain. His mind was already drifting back to their last moment together.
Before him, the love of his life and wife of twenty-four years lay, her thin frame nearly skeletal after having wasted away in the last months of the losing battle. They both knew the end was soon. She tried to speak, but her throat was too dry.
He leaned his ear to her mouth so he could hear. She whispered, “A man is there.” Her gaze was toward the foot of the bed.
He asked if he was the man with many eyes that had appeared to her two months prior, and she nodded. He told her that it was okay. God was waiting for her. He and their boys would be okay. She tried to say more, but he could not understand. She began shaking her head no, but then became still. He leaned to her and kissed her one last time, and then she was gone.
His mind snapped back to the present, he paused a moment longer before rising to his feet. He never bothered speaking at the grave. Her body might be there, but her spirit wasn’t. Turning, he made his way back to the rental and drove away.
Odd, he thought. There’s not a cloud in the sky.