THE GRAVEYARD WAS officially closed for the evening but in view of who he was, the old couple that owned the cottage nearby and were the keepers of the graveyard let Lechaim in while Shaun and Maureen waited outside. They both knew that he wanted some time with her alone and they were all cried out anyway.
Sinead’s grave was easy to find for the heavy marble was bedecked with tokens of bereavement from all over Ireland, although the elements were taking their toll on them. The wreaths and bouquets of flowers were tributes of a country that had been in mourning. What had to many of Ireland’s people been regarded as a love story had ended in the most tragic of circumstances. One of their Irish colleens had been taken by the sea leaving behind a celebrated husband to mourn her passing.
It had been seven weeks now since Sinead had been buried but this was the first time he had been to her grave. The Cronins, her parents, had at least, understood why although no one else did. His grief had been so evident to them and the media had been no help, constantly badgering him to the point where he had snapped just days before her funeral. Then, just for a brief instant, there had been murderous intent in Lechaim's eyes as he had seized one reporter by the lapels of his jacket. Almost immediately he thought he heard Sinead’s lilting voice in his ear. “Darling! Please don't!” The pain of her and her gentleness cut through him then like a knife and he had thrown the man aside.
If he had gone to her funeral, he knew it would be turned into even more of a media circus and he couldn’t bear that. Sinead’s memory was just too sacred to him. So, instead, he had disappeared for a while, driving aimlessly through Ireland, lost in mind and body. Returning to the Army on his return, a week or so ago now, he had avoided visiting her grave. It was as if by doing so, he would validate her death. But now he knew he had to say goodbye.
Standing there looking down at the marble slab that covered her, he read the inscription he had requested be inscribed there.
To my dearest wife, Sinead,
The sweetest soul of all,
Goodnight, darling,
Sweet dreams,
I'll see you in the morning
when the sun comes up
CAPTAIN LECHAIM FRANCIS LEWIS, MC
I suppose they’ll place a VC in front of the MC now, he found himself thinking bitterly as he looked at his name beneath the inscription. What price glory when you lose the only person you have ever truly loved? He would trade a thousand 'VC’s for one glimpse of that wonderful smile of hers. When she had been alive, he had held the world in his arms. Now, he knew only darkness and despair.
Tears began flowing down his face and he uttered a prayer, something he hadn't done in a long time.
“Look after my dear wife, Lord. Please grant that one day we will meet again in Paradise.”
He stood there for some time with his head bowed and then he bent down and laid his hand on her tombstone. “Goodbye, darling!” he whispered. “Sleep well!” Then he got up, and ended by saying, “I love you...I always will” With that, he turned and walked away without looking back.
Lechaim had 'crossed his Rubicon and never intended to come back to Ireland again, a land that had given him Sinead and then so cruelly taken her away. The Emerald Isle was indeed a beautiful mistress but she could be so vindictive. He knew he would never stop loving them both, his wife and her country, but he needed to bury the past or lose his sanity. What better place than on the other side of the world in new surroundings and away from any reminder of what he had lost?
Less than two weeks later, he said his goodbyes to Shaun and Maureen in their home. She hugged him and then Shaun, quite unlike him, to be sure, Maureen thought later, embraced his son-in-law as well. The two men had become firm friends and the death of his daughter, and the departure of his newfound friend pressed heavily on him. Saying goodbye now, both men hurt. Lechaim had become like the son that Shaun never had, and Shaun was like the father that Lechaim couldn't remember. Maureen loved him also. Not only had he been Sinead’s husband but also Maureen's dear friend as well. Now, to lose both Sinead and Lechaim in just a few weeks was more than she could bear, but she hid her true feelings by putting on a brave face.
“Mind you write now!” Maureen shouted through the car window as he was about to pull away.
They were not alone. Most of the residents in the lane crowded around the vehicle waving their goodbyes. A lump came to Lechaim's throat and he felt the salt in his eyes. These were good people, he thought. How wonderful it would all have been if only Sinead were alive today.
“Mind you write now!” Maureen repeated and he became aware of her again. He smiled back at them both as they stood by the side of the car. “And mind you come on that holiday to England!” he said. “As soon as I return from the Philippines.”
“We will! That's a promise!” Shaun said and meant it.
The car lurched away and Lechaim could see in his rearview mirror the crowd in the lane waving after him He held up one hand in acknowledgment but did not look back.
“That's the first time I've seen him do that since Sinead died,” Maureen said.
As they started back inside, Shaun asked, “What?”
“Smile!” Maureen answered.