The Parting: Time to Go

Guilt haunted Bob for a few days.  He was relieved he was not scheduled to sing at church that weekend since he would have felt like a hypocrite.  Nevertheless, he and Samantha discussed what had happened.  Bob apologized repeatedly but Samantha would not hear of it.  She apologized for pushing him. 

 

Bob suggested maybe they should take time away from each other.  This scared Samantha.  She felt she was finally in a meaningful relationship and she did not want it to end.  Therefore, she strongly protested the very mention of it.  She insisted that, surely, grown adults could work through it. 

 

Bob wanted to say that he believed she was more into the relationship than he was.  He knew he found Samantha attractive and believed she was an exceptional person.  Deep down, he knew his heart still belonged to Charlotte.  Now that he admitted this to himself, he felt guilty again for his intimacy with Samantha.  Except now he felt he cheated on Charlotte.  Instantly, he remembered a sermon he heard as a teenager.  The speaker mentioned that there is a place for fires when you are camping.  They belong in the fire pit.  There is a place for sex.  It belongs in marriage. 

 

A crippling fear swept over Bob.  He couldn’t love the person he was with because he was in love with another.  It became plain to him that he needed to end his relationship with Samantha.  Still, he did not want to hurt her.  She didn’t deserve that.  While he believed he needed to do it soon, he decided to wait for a more opportune time.  Maybe she would realize the relationship wasn’t right.

 

Nancy couldn’t help but think of the one time she sent her boys to visit her parents for a month one summer.  Money was tight and she and her husband were working hard to make ends meet.  She couldn’t work and watch the boys so it was decided they would spend time with grandma and grandpa.  Jack and John were on the verge of tears as the time for them to board the bus neared.  While they were excited to visit their grandparents, the reality of separation and the long bus ride hit all three of them hard. 

 

Though dying inside, she told her boys to be brave and they would be ok.  The time would go by fast and they would return home in no time.  As the boys went to board the bus, John tightly held onto Jack’s hand.  Tears rolled down John’s face while Jack struggled to be brave.  He had the same look in his eyes when Nancy dropped him off at the airport.  He knew he had to do this but was apprehensive.  How she wished she could go to the departing gate with him.  Of course, she couldn’t with airport security the way it currently is. 

 

She pulled up to the curb and they both got out of the car and walked to the trunk.  Jack took his luggage from the trunk and placed it on the curb, then turned to his mother.  She hugged her boy tightly.  He said, “I love you, mom.”  She burst into tears. 

 

“I love you, too  I hope you find what you need.” 

 

He hadn’t planned to say it but he felt it necessary.  “I won’t be long.  I will come home.” 

 

“That’s my boy.”