Hellos from Heaven

I remember it so clearly.

It was about four pm,

Golden hour in the beautiful town of Orford, New Hampshire.

My mother was gone,

Trying to find you,

To figure out what happened.

Everything was on the news that night.

I was at my grandparents for the week,

Staying there to visit.

I was going on a run down river road,

My grandmother not far behind me, talking to family friends who stopped by in a red Chevy.

Everything there was so still.

The sun shined golden though the long grass, The deer were in the corn field.

You could just barely see the covered bridge in the distance.

I never knew how dark and upsetting everything would become,

That the blue skies would turn grey to me,

To all of us.

I had music playing on my phone,

When my music stopped,

I reached for my phone,

That was in my pocket and saw a message from my mom.

You were gone.

I no longer wanted to run to the cover bridge.

I no longer wanted to buy the ice cream that I was supposed to get on the way home,

You were one of the first people who held me,

You are my best friends father,

That friend who has been raised like my brother.

My mothers best friend.

We all cared about you so much,

We still do.

Looking at pictures and hearing your voice often reburns the hole in our heart,

That we have tried so hard to fix.

We are all still broken,

Missing you everyday,

But you are in a happier place now,

We’ll all see you soon,

We can all sometimes see you,

Saying hello from heaven.