“Stan Leaf!”
“Hello, John”
“Where is everybody? I thought Heaven would be crowded.”
“Not crowded, John, although there are a lot of souls here.”
“I don’t understand. How does this work?”
“At this point you can see only one soul at a time. When you are ready, you will see your parents but only one at a time.”
“You look like you did when I was 13.”
“And you look like you did when you were 13. When you see your dad, one time you may look like when you were 3 and he was 34 and another time he might look 70 and you 39.”
“When will that be?”
“When you’re ready.”
“I’ve talked about you a lot over the years. I’ve talked about how you kept our Boy Scout troup competitive. I’ve talked about how Marvin Dexheimer could start a fire by friction quicker than most people could from a match. You taught him how to notch the yucca wood, make the driest tinder in the world, and he would stroke that bow a few times, pick up the tinder and blow just so, and he had a flame.”
“Marvin was a good Scout.”
“And I still remember your call letters: W9NKZ. I was WN9RZA and George was WN9RTP. He’s still into ham radio.”
“You both took a strong interest and learned your code well.”
“My parents forced me to choose between continuing in ham radio and photography, and my dad had a darkroom and Speed Graphic. It was pretty obvious as to which direction was going to be the most supportive of my dad.”
“You were old enough and knew enough to make that decision.”
“I remember one competition which was a relay race. One by one we had to run up to the logs and make one lashing, then run back and tag the next. After the last lashing we were to hold up the ladder and one would climb to the top. You had us practice until each lashing was picture perfect and tight, and done in the shortest time by the stopwatch.”
“I remember.”
“And we all had it down cold except for Billy Swan. He was so slow and sloppy that we were afraid we would lose on account of him. But the night of the competition, he made his lashing in the shortest time and we had him on top of the ladder before the second place team had finished their first lashing.”
“I was proud of you guys.”
“I don’t even feel hungry.”
“Our earthly bodies got hungry. Our heavenly bodies don’t need food, and we don’t get hungry.”
“ Remember how hungry we got canoeing and portaging in the Superior-Quetico wilderness.”
“Your dad was a good cook. When he asked me to serve as Scoutmaster, I told him that there were two things I couldn’t teach: nature and cooking, and he said that was OK.”
“I could go on and on about those days.”
“We have plenty of time to see each other again.”
“Can we visit anybody on Earth?”
“Usually there’s a waiting period, but on rare exception where there’s a special need a soul gets to visit someone special. If that applies to you, you’ll know. But something of your soul lives on in others you have touched during your years on Earth.”
“I’m going to like it here.”
“That’s the idea.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's challenge: write about heaven.
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Comments: 75
Great, great job, JOHN.
Over and out.
You may recall that I did a bit of research on the history of Ham Radio for THE STEAMER TRUNK. According to Wikipedia, "The Radio Act of 1912 marked the beginning of U.S. federal licensing of amateur radio operators and stations." I assume this means that call letters weren't issued before 1912 and that anyone with access to a ham radio could use it without being licensed. I wonder if the Radio Act applied to ham radio operations in the Bahamas.
When Russ and I moved here in 76 there was someone in the neighborhood with a Ham Radio. Sometimes you could hear him through our TV.
I never learned Morse Code but my friend knew it.
Did you ever go to a reunion and try to talk to everybody?
Love it
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I really like this, John. There is nothing on earth sweeter than adults teaching skills to kids, especially skills that give them a life-long love and respect for nature.
Thank you, Elsie. I appreciate your thoughtful comment.
My second father-in-law was into Ham radio for years and the walls of his radio room were covered with cards from all around the world.
John, interesting view of Heaven, but I'd include our pets, because they were as much, some even more, family and friends than the human ones were. Do I have to see my in-laws? :) Great writing, John, including the concept of one person at a time, don't know how you came up with that, but it's good!
Mare~
I appreciate both thoughtful comments.
I was a ham radio operator for years in the late 70's and early 80's. I was a pro at morse code and collected hundreds of contact postcards from all over the world. Wish I still had that collection.
Love this John.
I wonder who I'll meet in heaven first...