three

The longest two months of Beth’s life were January and February. Then March dragged on forever as she made plans to leave for Washington. Her call to Aunt Catherine late in the month revealed that snow was being forecast for the day Beth planned to arrive in Washington. Beth’s heart skipped a beat. Snow rarely fell on Henderson. Of course Washington would have snow. Washington had everything!

Although she was too excited to eat, she looked at the big breakfast her mother had prepared the morning of her departure. Beth was scheduled to leave in the afternoon. Sighing at the amount of food placed before her, she determined she would try to eat. Otherwise her parents would worry. They had agreed with this trip, but both of them had also seemed to try and find every reason she shouldn’t go.

Maybe she’d waited too long to cut the cord. She’d lived at home all of her twenty-five years. It was more convenient and less expensive while going to Furman University, only twenty miles away. Then after she graduated and got a job with the local newspaper, her paternal grandparents had died in a car crash. Her mom’s parents had died when Beth was still a young girl. With both sets of grandparents gone, it seemed she and her family needed each other more than ever, and there’d been no mention of Beth moving out. She hadn’t wanted to live alone in some apartment.

“What about your position with the paper, Beth?” her father asked, as if he were having second thoughts about her leaving. “You said the editor can’t guarantee you’ll have a job when you return.”

That did not daunt Beth’s spirit one iota. “Dad, two months with a Washington paper is more recommendation than a lifetime with the Henderson News. You know that. I don’t want to be stuck with this paper all my life. I have a degree in journalism. I need some kind of experience behind me before any magazine or larger paper will hire me.”

He peered at her through his dark-rimmed eyeglasses. “That may be true. And I know your aunt Catherine has made Washington seem like the most glamorous place in the world,” he said quietly—almost like a stranger would talk, Beth thought. “But there are some pretty rough things that go on there. You devour those papers daily. You know what I mean.”

Beth nodded her head in agreement but determined not to be swayed. She’d never gone against her parents’ wishes. She’d never even had that rebellious streak that was supposed to be so common between parents and teenagers. She’d been raised to honor her parents, and they had re-spected her.

She knew their reluctance to have her go was not because they were narrow-minded. Rather the opposite. They were well aware of the dangers in what they called “the world out there,” as if Henderson somehow was not a part of it. She was inclined to agree with them.

“Honey,” her mother added softly, “you’ll only be writing an advice column. Something like ‘Dear Abby.’ ”

Surprise washed over Beth. She’d often felt her mother tried to shield her from Aunt Catherine’s influence, trying to make her content with her life as it was in Henderson, but her mother was not one to come out and make any derogatory statement about anyone. This was the closest she had ever come.

“Mom, don’t you know that ‘Dear Abby’ has been a very popular syndicated column for years?”

“Of course, dear. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. But. . .can such a column really further your career?”

“It depends on what one puts in the column, Mom. You’ve taught me well, don’t you think?”

Beth grinned, and her mother’s reserve melted as she nodded with a look of love and acceptance on her face. “I guess we have to let you go. . .sometime.”

Now is the time, insisted part of Beth’s mind, contending with her desire to please her parents. But she had to defend her dream city. “Dad,” she said, glancing at him but not looking steadily into his eyes, which she knew would hold only love and concern for her, “I know there are dangers out there. But Washington is also the symbol of all that is great and wonderful about our nation. It’s where some of the most important decisions in the world are made. I know patriotism isn’t always popular today, but I’m a natural flag-waver. I love my country. I love what Washington represents.” She added reluctantly, “It’s not just Aunt Catherine.”

Although her parents had never said it in so many words, she knew they didn’t quite approve of Catherine.

Beth’s father furrowed his brow. “We just don’t want you hurt, honey.”

“Hurt?” she exclaimed, looking from one parent to the other. “You two act like it’s the end of the world.”

“You’re the biggest part of our world, Beth,” her dad said. “And you’re our child, no matter how old you get.”

He lowered his eyes to his plate and looked so dejected that Beth reached out and touched his hand. “Dad,” she said softly, “it’s only about three hours away by plane. If anything went wrong I could call you at lunchtime and be back here before supper.”

After an uncomfortable silence her mother asked, “What does Bob think about your going away for two months?”

“He said I would probably regret it if I didn’t.”

Her mother nodded and pushed her food around her plate.

Beth felt sure her trip to Washington didn’t call for such dramatics from her parents. Trying to be cheerful, she added lightly, “Anyway, Bob says my gorgeous diamond ring will be on my finger by summer, and the wedding is still on for. . .the future.”

They both looked at her. Beth lowered her eyes to her plate and forced a bite of cold eggs into her mouth. She wondered if her eyes had sparkled when she spoke of her someday-wedding. Or did they sparkle only when she spoke of Washington and Aunt Catherine?

“I know you expect a lot, Beth,” her mother said finally. “But glamour soon wears thin. It’s the routine daily existence that makes the world go round.”

Beth believed that, but it didn’t make her like it.

“Besides,” her mother continued, “it could be rather dull without Catherine there.”

Beth had the feeling they were glad Catherine was not going to be in Washington during most of her visit. But that city could never be dull. And she would be there in time for the famous cherry blossom season.

❧

That afternoon, after her parents said a reluctant good-bye at the airport, Beth looked down at the sea of clouds, foam-like in great feathery swills, light, suspended in space. The great flying machine seemed to be the only movable object in the universe. Far below, spread out in perfect order, lay a huge map where inhabitants and even vehicles were too small to be seen.

She leaned back in the seat, not inclined to disturb the man next to her, who was reading a magazine. She smiled and closed her eyes, secure that her life was completely in God’s hands. Everyone knew a big thing like this plane, carrying 250 people, couldn’t fly. Then again, neither could the bumblebee. But God had a way of making the impossible possible.

The bumblebee did fly. And with the cooperation of many human beings, so did this airplane. But when it came right down to the nitty-gritty, she knew that only God could pilot a plane. Only He could keep it in the air. That’s why she loved to fly. At a time like this, doing the impossible, having no control whatsoever over her circumstances, she felt her faith was strongest, and her life rested completely in God’s hands.