I Kept My Promise

Walking down the hall to Alison's room we saw a sliver of light from under her door. Rick knocked softly and entered. I stood outside and listened as he began talking to our oldest daughter.

"Hi sweetheart. I'm sorry it's so late. I've been working really hard on a special project. But it is finished now."

"Mommy told me about your friend Janet. I am very sad to hear about her mommy and daddy. Let me tell you that it is never going to

happen in this family. I love your mother, William and Erica and you so very, very much."

"I promise you that I'll always be here to love and take care of the four of you forever and I'll be home for supper from now on out."

Then I heard Alison say softly . . . "A pinky promise?"

When I heard Rick's reply I knew everything was going to be all right.

"No. This promise is more important than a 'pinky promise'. It's a big 'hug and a kiss promise', sweetheart."

The very next evening, as we began getting ready for supper, Alison was nervously looking at the clock. We always eat at six o'clock and here it was five to six and no daddy.

At five fifty-eight I told the kids to sit up for supper. It looked like Alison was about to cry when the door from the garage opened and in walked Rick.

He explained that there was an accident where Tower Road narrowed from four lanes into two. Traffic was backed up for over a mile. "I left my cell phone in my briefcase in the back seat and couldn't reach it to call that I might be late."

But I'm here now as I promised and then mimicking William he exclaimed . . . "What's for supper! I'm STARVING!"

Later after we had eaten, as Alison and I were clearing the table, Alison stated in a whispered to me . . . "Daddy always keeps his promises, doesn't he?"

That Saturday, watching Rick playing in the swimming pool with our three children, I thought to myself what a perfect life I had. A husband who I absolutely adored and three wonderful children.

On Monday, as I was bringing the kids home from school, my cell phone rang. Looking at the display I saw it was Arthur Frasier. My entire world fell apart as I listened to him.

"Emily. There has been an accident in the lab. Rick was rushed to the Emergency Room at Shands Hospital."

"What happened? Is he alright?" I questioned him.

"I don't know. You need to get here as quickly as you can."

To this day I cannot remember a thing about the drive to the hospital. Arriving at the emergency room I rushed inside with my three children. They were scared and crying not knowing what was happening.

Once inside I saw Arthur and his wife Susan. Thank God for Arthur and Susan Frasier. We had become more than good friends. Susan had always treated my children as if they were the the grandchildren she never would have. She immediately took charge of my children, calming them down.

Before Arthur could begin explaining what happened Susan interrupted him telling me she would take the children with her.

"Let's go to my house. My dog just had four little puppies. There's one for each of us to play with. Would you like to do that?"

Putting on a brave face I smiled and said to them. "You go with Miss Susan and play with the puppies. Okay?"

I watched them leave and turned back to Arthur. 

"What happened?"

"The device that emits Electro Magnetic Pulses malfunctioned. Rick was hit by a massive pulse of electromagnetic energy. It was somewhere in the range on one Gigajoule to one Terajoule of energy."

His talk of gigajoules and terajoules made no sense to me.

I asked him if that was bad and he simply nodded his head, yes.

"It completely disrupted all of his bodily functions . . . ."

Before Arthur could complete his explanation a doctor, who introduced himself as Ronald Camden, walked up to me asking . . . "Are you Mrs. Steiger? Mrs. Emily Steiger?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'm Emily Steiger. How is my husband? Is he going to be alright?"

He didn't answer me. Instead he said to accompany him to his office where we would have some privacy.

"Arthur, I want you to come with me. Please."

Once inside the doctor began. "Your husband is suffering from a massive electro magnetic pulse. This is an injury where we, here at Shands, have absolutely no experience. The medical literature is silent on it as well. Essentially, we are operating in the dark as to any treatment plan."

"Mrs. Steiger, your husband is on total life support. It's the only thing keeping him alive at the moment. The EEG is displaying no signs of any brain activity. I'm very sorry to have to tell you that it appears your husband is brain dead."

I jumped up from my seat and screamed. "NOOOOOOOO!! I have to see him! Can I see him right now?"

"Certainly, come with me."

He led Arthur and me down a corridor to the elevators and we went up to the fifth floor. Walking into Rick's room in the Intensive Care Unit I was struck by his appearance. Even though he was on a life support system he appeared perfectly normal, as if he was just sleeping.

"I would like a moment alone with my husband, please."

When everyone had left the room I stood next to Rick. Leaning over him I kissed him and with my tears falling on his face, said.

"Sweetheart, you have to come back to us. You promised . . . . you promised that you would always be here to love and take care of the children and me forever."

I pulled a chair close to his bed, sat by his side, held his hand and kept telling him how much the children and I loved him. I lost all track of time. I guess over an hour went by when Doctor Camden entered the room.

"I need to examine your husband for a few moments. When he finished he asked me to step out into the hallway.

"Mrs Steiger," he began, "have you thought about taking your husband off life support?"

"Is he suffering?" I asked him.

"I don't believe so," he responded.

"I can't make that decision right now. I need to spend one more night with my husband." I managed to say without breaking completely down.

That night I spent in Rick's room holding his hand and reminiscing about our life together. I realized he couldn't respond to me but it felt good to do it anyway. All the time I was agonizing over the decision I knew I had to make. I would have to make this decision by myself. Robin, Rick's sister, was over eight and a half months pregnant with her second child. Barbara had slipped on an icy sidewalk, fell and broke her hip making it impossible for her to travel as well.

When I tried calling Linda it went right to voice mail. I realized she was at work at the hospital and would have her cell phone turned off. I left her a message to call me as soon as she was able. My parents were on a cruise in the western Pacific for their forty-fifth anniversary and I was unable to reach them. I was alone.

Somewhere in the early morning hours I fell asleep in the chair next to his bed. At six in the morning I was awaken by a nurse checking on Rick before she changed shifts. Rising from the chair I kissed him once more and slowly began gathering my things in preparation to leave. Walking to the door I turned and took a long, lingering look at my husband, the love of my life.

As I walked down the corridor toward the elevators I made my decision. Stepping into the elevator I made my way down to the lobby. Thankfully, no one joined me in the elevator.

Once I reached the lobby I realized I was too distraught to drive safely. I took a seat in the deserted lobby and thought about the decision I had reached. I got up and walked to the reception desk. I asked the volunteer, manning the desk, for a sheet of paper and an envelope.

I went back, sat down and composed a letter to Doctor Camden. After reading what I had written I folded the letter, placed into the envelope and sealed it. Just when I had finished my cell phone rang. It was Linda. I told her what had happened and the decision I had reached. There was a long pause before she said.

"I'll be there just as soon as I can catch a flight. You shouldn't be alone."

I rose from my seat and walked back over to the reception desk. Handing the sealed letter to the volunteer I asked her to be sure Doctor Camden received it. Then I made my way to the exit intending to retrieve my car and drive home.

A security guard approached me as I was leaving. "Are you Mrs. Emily Steiger," he asked.

"Yes, I am. Is there something wrong?" I replied.

"I don't know ma'am. I was just told to try and find you and request that you to return to the fifth floor."

He then gently escorted me across the lobby back to the elevators. Placing me inside the elevator he reached in and pushed the button for the fifth floor. Stepping back as the doors closed he told two others waiting to join me that it was full and to please wait for the next one.

Exiting the elevator on the fifth floor I walked down the hallway toward the corridor that led to Rick's room. I immediately noticed a great deal of commotion outside his room. As I approached Doctor Camden emerged and seeing me walked quickly up to me.

"There's been a remarkable change in your husband's condition. Right after the shift change the day shift nurse was checking on your husband. She saw movement on the EEG scan and called me. When I got here I saw significant brain activity and it has been improving by the minute."

When I entered the room I saw four to five doctors and staff hovering around Rick's bed. They were so busy checking him over they didn't notice the EEG screen.

Finally, one looked over and shouted. "Look the EEG is registering normal activity."

"Unbelievable," another announced.

"I have no explanation. It defies all medical history. No one has ever recovered after being declared brain dead. I just don't understand it," Doctor Camden said, shaking his head. "I just don't understand it."

But I did. I knew deep down in my heart that Rick had made a promise to always be here to love and take care of me and the children forever. And he always kept his promises.

When Linda arrived that afternoon she was amazed to find her brother alive and doing so well. She immediately called her mother with the good news. Robin's husband called that evening announcing the birth of their second child, a little girl who they wanted to name Emily.

My mom and dad called a few days later and I was able to give them the news of Rick's accident and recovery. Dad wanted to fly immediately home when they reached their next port-of-call. I convinced them to continue with their cruise. It took some doing but I finally convinced him to enjoy their anniversary trip.

***************

Rick is home now after a short stay in the hospital. He has fully recovered and is back to work. The children are thrilled to death having him home safe and sound. As for me, all my prayers were answered. I have the love of my life back in my arms once more.

Over the next six months there have been some significant changes. Barbara decided to sell her home and move to be closer to her grandchildren, son and me. Robin's husband re-located his business to Gainesville and moved his family just a short five minute drive from us.

Linda decided to move as well. She easily found a new position with Shands Teaching Hospital at the University of Florida. She met one of Rick's graduate students at a party we held over the Fourth of July. Looks like it is getting real serious. I'm happy for her.

My mom told my father she was tired of the cold and icy conditions in Massachusetts during the winter months so dad bought a winter home here. They plan on spending the cold winter months here in Florida and back to Marblehead for the Summer and Fall.

My mother, Barbara and Susan Frasier have become close friends. They shop and go out to lunch frequently taking my three children with them. They refer to themselves as the 'Three Grandmas'.

My father, Arthur Frasier and George Samuelson, who had also re-located with his wife to Gainesville, play golf every chance they get. Rick goes with them on the weekend although he tells me he is not very good. My dad says not to believe him.

The years seemed to just fly by. We were happy together and each day that passed we fell deeper in love. Watching our children grow and mature was truly a miracle.

Every summer, when the children were out of school, Rick took six weeks of vacation. The first three weeks we did something as a family and the remaining three weeks were for just Rick and me. One such summer vacation stands out in my mind. Alison was fourteen and the twins were eleven going on twelve.

Rick had rented a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. The kids were not too happy when we told them there was no cell phone service and that their on-line games would not be available. They had such long faces when they complained that they would have NO FUN this vacation.

"Hey, guys, you'll have a ton of fun, I promise," Rick told them as we drove to North Carolina.

We arrived late in the afternoon to the cabin. It was situated on the side of a mountain overlooking a pristine lake with a dock and boat house The cabin itself was constructed from native stone with two bedrooms, a kitchen and living room with a large stone fireplace. The girls would share one bedroom and Rick and I would have the other one. William would sleep on a pull out bed in the living room. Electricity was provided by solar panels and a back-up generator. There was no TV or phone. Truly a rustic setting.

The next morning we went down to the lake and explored the boat house. Inside was a small sailboat which Rick said that he was told we could use. We put them all in life jackets and after showing the kids how to sail the three of them took off. Rick and I sat on the dock and watched them. We could hear them laughing and having a great time.

Around noon we called for them to come back and after tying the boat to the dock we went back to the cabin for lunch. After finishing they begged to go back to the boat for the rest of the afternoon. Rick went with them while I sat on the porch in a rocking chair reading a romance novel.

They came back just before dark and the kids were absolutely exhausted from having such a great time. After supper we sat in front of the fire and told ghost stories until it was time for bed.

The next morning the three of them asked to go back to the lake for more sailing but Rick told them he had something else in mind for the day. We jumped into the car and drove for about a half hour until we came to a sign that said 'Trails End Ranch'. We were all going horse back riding. I had learned when I was a little girl so I knew what to tell Rick and the three children what to do.

As expected the girls fell in love with the horses and didn't want to leave when we finished some hours later. Rick promised we would come back another time before our vacation was over.

Another day we all went to a fish farm and caught trout from a pond. William loved it and wasn't squeamish at all about taking the wriggling fish off the hook. The girls loved catching them but didn't want to touch them.

Rick and the kids went hiking right after breakfast one day while I stayed behind to clean-up. All of sudden William came racing back to the cabin shouting at the top of his lungs . . . "BLACKBERRIES!! Tons of them. We need something to put them in."

I gave him some plastic grocery bags and he tore out of the kitchen with them. They soon all returned with six bags filled to bursting with fresh, ripe blackberries.

"Mom!" Alison exclaimed. "There is a ton more. We should pick them before they spoil."

After a quick trip to the store we returned with two dozen Mason canning jars. Getting back to the cabin, we followed the directions we had been given, processed and filled all the jars to take home with us. We had so much left over that I made a huge blackberry pie. We ate it all up that very night.

Early in the afternoon, three days before our vacation was to end, the whole family was on the way into town for some last minute shopping. We must have passed the same sign advertising gem mining dozens of times when on the spur of the moment Rick decided to stop.

Entering we found row after row of glass cases displaying the variety of gem stones native to the area. An older woman approached welcoming us to her store. She explained that she and her husband had been running the business for over thirty years.

Her name was Martha and her husband's name was Jonathan. Walking around the shop she was all too happy to identify the different gem stones.

"Would you like to try your hand at mining?" She inquired.

Actually it wasn't really mining in the traditional sense. She told us that they purchased dirt and gravel from various construction projects in the area. In addition, they brought in material from their own property. For a fee of ten dollars we could purchase a three gallon bucket of dirt and gravel and search through it outside on sorting tables located under a covered shed.

Rick looked at me and said that it sounded like fun. He paid for five pails, one for each of us. Under the watchful eye of Martha we dumped the dirt onto the table and began sifting though the material. In just about forty-five minutes we had quite an assortment of rocks and pieces of what looked like red glass.

Martha explained to us that her husband was running an errand and would return shortly. Not wanting to wait around I told Rick I would take the girls into town and we would do some shopping. William wasn't interested in going and elected to stay and wait with Rick for Jonathan's return. He was curious as to exactly what we had found.

Three hours later the girls and I returned to pick Rick and William up from the gem shop. They had several small packages with them. I asked what they had but was told they would share the story with us after supper.

After the girls and I cleaned up after dinner we settled in front of the fire and William produced three small wrapped boxes. Handing one to me and the other two to Erica and Alison he said they were presents from his dad and him.

We opened them and discovered each box contained a pair of pierced earrings.

"They are white sapphires," William exclaimed. "Dad had them mounted on 18 carat gold earring posts for you."

The girls immediately put them on and rushed to a mirror to see what they looked like with them in their ears.

"Mom, see how beautiful they make us look," Alison said.

"Thank you, daddy, thank you William," they both shouted coming over to give their dad a big kiss. When they went after William he backed away. "NO KISSES, PLEASE!!"

I removed the earrings I had on from my ears and before putting the new ones in I examined them carefully.

"They are absolutely beautiful, Rick."

"They sure are, Emily. Almost as pretty as you. What makes them even more remarkable is that we actually found the sapphires ourselves. Jonathan estimated they are about one-half carat each and he appraised all six gems at about twenty-five hundred to three thousand dollars."

Reaching behind him he withdrew another package.

Opening it up he said, "and these are the other gems we found today. They are two aquamarines, one beryl, a citrine, two emeralds, eight garnets, and remember the lump of rock we almost discarded. It turns out it is a two and a half carat ruby. All told the fifty bucks we spent turned into almost ten thousand dollars worth of gem stones."

"Jonathan told me he has never seen anyone, in all of his years in the business, have the good fortune to make such a find. I told him I've always had good luck. After all I found you, didn't I?"

Two days later, while we were riding home from our vacation, I became aware that the normal loud chatter between the children had stopped. Glancing into the back seat I observed the three of them with their heads together talking quietly.