"She is buried next to me," Henry stated. His voice was low and wrought with emotion. "Oh, my dear Patricia. She passed away four years after me."
You can tell how much he loves her. The fact that something dead is still capable of feeling love was very touching and it made me hope that I could find someone who loved me as much as Henry loved Patricia.
"Tell me about her," I said all of a sudden. "How did the both of you meet?"
"We met our freshman year in high school. We were in the same English class and were seated next to each other because of our last names. We talked and later found out we also had math together."
"When did you find out you were falling for her?" I continued.
"It wasn't until halfway through the year that I realized I enjoyed being in her company. We spent a lot of time studying together and had the same friend group so we saw each other a lot. I think it wasn't until this guy tried to flirt with her that I got jealous and told him to lay off because she wasn't interested. She thanked me for standing up for her because he wouldn't give up even though she told him no.
"After school, I asked why she didn't want to go out with him. He was a good looking guy so I wasn't sure why she didn't give him a chance but she told me she was in love with someone else. I didn't think to ask who it was as it was none of my business, really. Months later, I found out it was me and I felt like an idiot. I asked her out and we had a blast. After a few dates, I asked her to be my girlfriend."
I love hearing about how people meet their partner. My hope is that I'd find mine someday and that I'd be telling the story of how we met to someone else just like him.
"What's it like being dead? On your side of the world," I clarified. I've always been curious what happens after we die. Do we cease to exist or is there another world waiting for us?
"I cannot answer that," Henry replied. "You'll have to wait until it's your time." That bastard, I thought to myself.
"Will you see your wife when you go back? Do you want to try again to see if you can go back?"
I stepped towards his grave and put my hand on one of the stakes and shook it, testing how stable it was. It wobbled a bit which meant it wasn't deep in the ground.
"Yes, let's try again."
He didn't answer my question about whether or not he'd see his wife but didn't need to. He'd already answered it much earlier when he said he missed his wife. If I had to guess, when you die, you sleep in eternal peace which ain't too bad if you think about it. Maybe it's the thought of his wife buried next to him which helps him sleep at night.
Henry ducked under the caution tape and stood at the edge of the opening. I held onto his hand to provide support as he took the first step in, sending soil and rocks into the ground. I wasn't being much help being on the other side of the tape so I ducked under and joined him.
"Before I go, I guess I should give this back," he said, pulling at his jacket.
"Why don't you keep it?" I told him. "Consider it my gift to you."
I was aware if they investigated the strange case, they'd find my DNA but my hope was that they'd be happy his body was returned and not dig him up. Most people don't like to disturb the dead if they can help it.
"Thank you."
His hands secured the jacket over him and he stared at me as if touched that I left a part of me behind for him to keep. It was silly of me to get emotional but here I was getting choked up seeing him go. He's only been here a short time and I'll miss him dearly.
