Chapter Twenty Three

Twenty Three

Andi and Demetrius

“Demetrius,” Andi asked. “How about we go for a walk together after you close up shop this evening?”

Looking up from the counter top which he was carefully cleaning, Demetrius muttered, ‘Sure.”

They walked along the eastern edge of the island, silently watching the pelicans as they swooped in formation off shore and enjoying the bright colors on the rolling fields as the sun went lower into the sky.

Cautiously, Andi asked, “How long has it been since your wife died?”

April’s death was never far from Demetrius’ thoughts, so Andi’s question didn’t come as a complete surprise to him. He stopped, turning away from Andi and stared off towards the horizon line. After a few moments of silence, he quietly responded, “It’ll be a year next month.”

Andi didn’t say anything, but remained quiet.

“She’s been gone longer than we were married,” he said with surprisingly little emotion. “Hard to believe...”

They continued walking along the pathway in silence.

“Demetrius, thank you for telling me,” pausing she made a decision. “I’d like to share something with you. Is that okay?”

He nodded approval.

“There is an old version of Andi which is considerably different than this one.” She began. For the next thirty minutes she revealed her life story, the addictions, promiscuity and eventual stay in the psych hospital. “But everything changed when I opened the gift.”

“Gift?” Demetrius asked.

“Yes, I was self-destructive. Really I wanted to die, but was afraid to do what it would take. But when I opened the gift, my life took on meaning, I found joy, everything changed.”

“What was the gift?”

“You know. You’ve got it too.” She said with a sly smile. “The gift is… well, I’ll put it this way. My life was a mess and now it’s not. My heart was broken and now it’s healed. I was headed towards destruction and now I’m living life large. The gift is Jesus. He took me at my worst and, look at me now!”

Demetrius thought about her words carefully. He smiled and said, “Yes, I do have the same gift. When April died… I was lost, spinning out of control and I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to keep living. It was very, very dark for months on end. Even Sandy and Oliver don’t know how bad it got for me. But, when I heard they were moving to Paine Harbor, something happened inside of me. I began to research this tiny little island and as I did so, a spark lit within me. I wondered if I could start afresh. Then, one night, as I was going to bed, I sensed I should stand on my patio and look at the sky. So I did. It was one of the crystal clear night skies where the moon looks like you could literally reach out and grab it. And He met me there, on my patio in Colorado Springs.”

Thinking back on that moment on his patio, Demetrius remembered the odd feeling that something or someone was present with him. Unafraid, and with a sense of wonder, he said, “Who’s there?” In that moment, he knew. He knew God was with Him. It was electric and awesome, and then the Voice spoke up, “Son. Your time in Colorado is coming to an end. I have a new life for you. It’ll be wonderful and fulfilling, but you’ve got to let go of the past in order to step into your destiny.” 

“How can I let go of April? She’s all I’ve got.”

“You aren’t letting go of April. You will always treasure her in your heart, and one day you will be reunited with her. But there is so much of life I have for you, and you can have it if you want it, but you cannot stay here in this place any longer.”

Demetrius filled with wonder acknowledged the truth of His message. “You are right, somehow I knew this moment would happen.” It was then he knew he’d be going with Oliver and Sandy to Paine Harbor.

Sensing Demetrius had gone away, Andi spoke up and said, “Demetrius, where are you?”

Coming back to the present moment, Demetrius looked at her with fresh eyes and apologized.
“Oops, sorry about that, I guess I went back to Colorado Springs for a moment.” Andi nodded understanding and encouraged him with a soft touch on his arm to continue.

“It’s hard to explain, but in moment I knew He was with me, and He was inviting me in to something new, different and extremely positive,” Demetrius said reflecting back on an amazing life-changing moment. “And you know what? I heard His voice.”

“Go on!”

“Yeah, I did.”

“What did He say?”

Laughing, Demetrius answered. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this. But… well, He said, ‘You can have it if you want it.’”

“What did that mean?” Andi asked sincerely desiring to know precisely what he meant.

“It meant it was my choice as to whether I wanted to enter into the kind of life He planned for me. I had to make a choice. Life or death. He went on to say to me something I’ve since discovered is in the Bible, ‘I’ve come that you may have life, life abundant.’ And I most certainly wasn’t living abundantly. I was stuck in grief, without any real hope of getting out.”

“I certainly understand that,” Andi related.

“But it was like a switch was flipped within me when I heard his invitation. ‘You can have it you want it.’ Immediately I knew my only hope was to take Him up on His offer.” Demetrius paused. “So, to make a long story short, I decided I had nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain if I’d take Him up on His offer.”

The two friends looked at one another with a deep sense of appreciation for what the other had gone through.

“Can you imagine where I’d be today, if I hadn’t said yes?” Demetrius said reflectively.

Andi laughed, “Actually, yes, I have a pretty good idea.”

“What do you say we head over to Portia’s Place. And I’d be my pleasure to buy your dinner!” Demetrius offered. “Please say ‘yes’, I’m starving!”

“I’d be honored.” Andi replied demurely.

Later that evening, after dinner had concluded and Andi and Demetrius parted ways, Demetrius got in bed. His heart was full of wonder, joy and a bit of confusion as he mulled over the events of recent days. And his head was spinning in thought and awareness of the unique time he was experiencing. Soon he found himself talking out loud to his empty apartment. 

“Whew. There is so much going on. The Coffee House, Niels, Sarah and her family. And now, Andi. She’s so different, so aware of people. And she seems unafraid of anything. I like that about her.”

Turning to look at the framed photo of April on his nightstand, he spoke as if his late wife could hear him, “I think you’d like her, April.” Unable to sleep, his mind continued to race continually coming back to thoughts about Andi. “I wonder…”

Later that night, Demetrius had a dream. He found himself in a beautiful ballroom, lit by candles and starlight, standing alone in the middle of a beautiful marble dance floor. Off to the side a large orchestra was playing and a gorgeous vocalist could be heard singing love songs. He noticed he was dressed in an elegant tuxedo with tails and in his hands he held a dozen long stemmed red roses. Other than the orchestra and singer, he was alone. Confused, he turned around looking for the meaning, when his heart raced to see April walk onto the dance floor. Dressed in an extraordinary gown of royal blue and sparkling diamonds, she walked gracefully towards Demetrius and as the orchestra began to play, she said to him, “I believe it is the gentleman’s task to ask the lady to dance.” Too stunned for words, he placed the roses on a nearby table and reached out to slip his arm around her slender waist and they began to dance in unison. The moment was perfect. His heart was rejoicing. His love had returned to him. The song came to an end, and vocalist announced she and the orchestra would take a short break. Demetrius ushered April to the table where the roses awaited them, mysterious placed in crystal vase. Helping April to her seat, his eyes were transfixed upon her beauty.

“Demetrius,” she spoke. “You always loved me well. Thank you. I never worried or wondered about you. I know what it means to be loved by a good man.” 

Tears flowed down his face.

“I want you to life live really well. I want for you to pursue the dreams we had, but we didn’t get to do together. It’s time for you to love again. You are so good at it! Don’t waste your love in grief and regrets. I want you to love again.”

A dog barked. He awoke. The ballroom, the orchestra, the tuxedo and most importantly, April were erased by the sound of a barking dog. The dream was gone. As Demetrius’ head cleared and he came back to consciousness he sought to hold on to the dream. Like most dreams, holding on to it is a futile as trying to hold water in your hands. But one thing was clear, he could still hear April’s last words, “I want you to love again.” There would be no more sleeping for Demetrius on this night.