Calvin and Mildred were alone for the first time for nearly three weeks, and it felt good. The daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips filled their yard with color, and the birds filled the air with their song. Spring peepers could be heard out by the pond.
"Do you want another blanket on you?" Mildred asked. "The morning breeze is still pretty cool, and I don't want you to get a chill."
"No, I'm just fine," Calvin answered his wife of 53 years. "The sun is strong this morning, and it's keeping me as warm as a cat sunning himself on a window ledge. In fact, if I felt any better I'd have to purr."
Mildred smiled and gave her husband's emaciated hand a gentle squeeze. Then they both just sat quietly enjoying the sights, sounds and scents of springtime – he in his hospital bed and she in the nearby chair, that she had kept filled so faithfully over the last several months of his long struggle with cancer.
It would just be a matter of days the doctors had told them last week. And the kids, grandkids, neighbors, business associates, people from the church, hospice workers, and other friends had kept them company around the clock. But this was the day before Easter, and everybody seemed to have some kind of errand to run this morning. And so the house was quiet.
Both Calvin and Mildred appreciated all the help. But it felt really good to be alone with just each other for a little while. And so they sat, holding hands and taking in all the beauty of a gorgeous spring morning.
After almost thirty minutes of just sitting quietly together, Mildred asked, "Calvin, are you afraid? I've never seen you afraid of anything, but are you afraid of dying?"
Calvin thought for awhile before he answered. He had never lied to his wife in all their years together, and this was certainly no time to begin. But the truth hurt him to even think it. How could he answer truthfully without hurting Mildred too? But he had to tell her the truth. This woman had loved him and had given him so much over the years. He just could not lie to her.
Thinking that maybe he had not heard her question, Mildred turned to him and repeated it. "Calvin, are you afraid of dying?"
"Yes," he answered weakly. "I'm afraid that I can't do it."
She saw in his eyes the pain that answering her question had caused, and she wished she had not asked it.
"I've fought a lot of enemies," Calvin began to say, "and I've always beaten them, every one of them. But I don't think I can beat this. Back during the Depression a lot of people gave up, but I didn't. I kept fighting, and I got through it. Sure there were hungry days, lots of them, but I didn't give up. And then during the war, there were a lot of times that I thought I was a dead man for sure, but I always came through every battle. And then when I started courting you, I was scared to death that I was going to lose you to that skunk Ralph Martin."
"Ralph Martin!" Mildred said. "I was never serious about him. Why he could never hold a candle to you, Calvin Smith!"
"Maybe so, but you sure had me worried there for awhile. So, I just about busted my bank account trying to buy you flowers and chocolates and other little gifts."
"Calvin, I told you then, and I'm telling you now, those gifts were not important to me. I didn't want all those things. I loved you, not the things you bought for me."
"Yeah, I suppose so," Calvin admitted. "But anyway, I won your hand in marriage, and I managed to hang on to it for 53 years."
Mildred gave his hand another gentle squeeze, and leaned over and kissed him. "You couldn't have driven me off with a stick, you big dummy. I'm yours no matter what.”
Calvin smiled at his wife. "If Ralph Martin knew all that he would miss, he would have worked harder to win you over to his side. But I outsmarted him, and I won that battle too. I've beaten every single one of my enemies. But this time I feel like I'm on the losing end, and I'm afraid."
"Calvin, sometimes I don't know about you," Mildred said sternly to her husband. "You don't have to beat death. Our Lord has already done it for you. Why do you think everybody was in church yesterday? The reason Good Friday is called good is because our Lord did a very, very good thing for us on that day. He did our dying for us, so that we don't have to do it – so that you don't have to do it! And what do you think we are celebrating on Easter? When Jesus came up out of his grave, he was declaring the death of death! Jesus has already beaten your last enemy, Calvin. So, you don't have to."
Mildred could see tears welling up in her husband's eyes. She hoped they were tears of relief and joy, but just to make sure she kept talking. "Do you know what I used to do with all those chocolates you brought me?"
"Well, I guess you ate them," Calvin answered.
"No! I fed them to our dog! That's why she was so fat! Calvin, if I had eaten all the chocolates you bought for me, I would have weighed 300 pounds! Instead, I think our poor dog weighed 300 pounds! Calvin, you were trying to win a fight that you had already won! I was head over heals in love with you, and I still am! You could have saved yourself a bundle of money and added years to our dog's life if you had stopped buying chocolates and had just asked me to marry you! Why I thought you would never get around to popping the question!"
"I guess I was just afraid," Calvin said. "I didn't want to take any chances on you saying, 'No.'"
"That's my point, Calvin. You didn't have to be afraid then, and you don't have to be afraid now. I loved you then, and I couldn't wait to say 'Yes' to you. And Jesus loves you now, and he can't wait to say 'Yes' to you either. So, stop trying to win a fight that has already been won a long time ago! That's what Easter is all about, Calvin. Jesus has fought our last enemy, and we're the winners.
Calvin reached out and put his arms around his wife. "God, I'm glad I married this woman! And, Lord, thank you for beating this last enemy of mine."
Later, as the clock moved toward noon, the front door opened. "Mom, Dad, we brought lunch," one of their kids called out. And two grandkids came running into the sunroom where Mildred sat with tears running down her face.
"He's gone home," she said to her family. "The battle's won. See, he still has a smile on his face." Then Mildred stood up and walked toward her daughter, "Honey, would you mind ironing my yellow dress? I want to wear it to the Easter services tomorrow. I have a lot to celebrate."
Questions for Meditation, Discussion or Preaching
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
