beaming.
Goldie pressed a small box into my hands. Without waiting for an invitation, I tore it open. Inside was a beautiful, hand-carved silver bracelet.
I didn’t know what to say.
“ It was carved ‘specially for you by my brother Andy,” Nana said. “See, Hai Nai Yu ? This is a mama killer whale and her baby. Because we know how much you love them.”
“ Nana got it engraved too,” Goldie said, her eyes sparkling.
I flipped it over.
The writing on the inside was etched in a beautiful scroll.
To Hai Nai Yu―The Wise One of the One Who Knows.
I heard a sharp crack and swiveled my head just in time to see an icicle snap off the roof outside and stab the snow below.
A shiver raced up my spine.
My grandparents returned home to Vancouver in January and the chilly winter months passed by swiftly. By March, my mother appeared to have made a complete recovery. She even went back to painting, although my father cautioned her constantly to take it easy. I’m not sure she knew what that meant. She seemed almost driven by an unidentifiable force. She finished two paintings in record time and started on a third.
One Friday morning, my father joined us for breakfast instead of hurrying off to work like he usually did.
“ Want to go out on the schooner tomorrow?” he asked me.
“ That’s a great idea,” my mother said. “I’ll pack us a picnic lunch.”
My father frowned. “Dani, perhaps you should stay―”
“ I feel great, Jack. Quit being such a worry-wart.”
Early the next morning, we packed a large basket and drove to the harbor. When we reached the dock where the Finland Fancy was moored, I noticed another schooner in her place.
“ Where’s your boat, Dad?” I asked, confused. “And what’s that one doing in your spot?”
My father chuckled. “That’s her, Sarah.”
I eyed him as if he’d lost his mind. “What?”
“ She’s been refinished, inside and out,” he explained. “Looks great, huh?”
Stunned, I examined the Finland Fancy . She had been given a fresh coat of paint to see her through the winter months and looked sparkling clean. Her deck had been stained in a cherrywood finish and the hull was painted a pale blue with a royal blue trim.
“ Wow,” I said, awestruck. “I didn’t even recognize her.”
“ Yeah, me too when I first saw her,” he said.
Skip greeted us with a friendly salute, his white hair curling under his captain’s hat. He patted me on the head, went to his cabin and prepared to leave the harbor.
“ Get Mom a glass of water,” my father told me as he untied the moor lines and pushed off from the dock.
I headed below deck to the galley and poured ice water into two glasses―one for my mother and one for me. I took them up top where my father was fussing over my mother.
“ Go below if the sun gets too hot,” he warned her.
Rolling her eyes, she settled into her chair and slipped on some sunglasses. “Yes, dear.”
I released a pent-up sigh. It was wonderful to see her healthy again. Everything seemed normal and I tried to put my fears to rest.
Bundled warmly in blankets on the deck, we listened to the songs of the sea. With the echolocation equipment, we heard numerous fish, a couple of seal lions and at last the familiar sound of the killer whale. My father scribbled constantly in his notebook―seemingly in another world―while my mother and I stared up at the clouds and tried to distinguish shapes and creatures.
“ That one looks like a fairy,” she said, pointing at a fluffy, cotton candy cloud.
“ Or an angel,” I added.
We gazed at the sky and watched the fairy angel dissipate until it stretched into an abstract design. It made me think of something I’d been meaning to ask her for a long time.
“ Mom, do you believe in Heaven?”
There was an imperceptible tremble in my mother’s hand as she carefully plucked off her sunglasses and folded them in her lap. Then she released a long breath and her eyes skimmed
Goldie pressed a small box into my hands. Without waiting for an invitation, I tore it open. Inside was a beautiful, hand-carved silver bracelet.
I didn’t know what to say.
“ It was carved ‘specially for you by my brother Andy,” Nana said. “See, Hai Nai Yu ? This is a mama killer whale and her baby. Because we know how much you love them.”
“ Nana got it engraved too,” Goldie said, her eyes sparkling.
I flipped it over.
The writing on the inside was etched in a beautiful scroll.
To Hai Nai Yu―The Wise One of the One Who Knows.
I heard a sharp crack and swiveled my head just in time to see an icicle snap off the roof outside and stab the snow below.
A shiver raced up my spine.
My grandparents returned home to Vancouver in January and the chilly winter months passed by swiftly. By March, my mother appeared to have made a complete recovery. She even went back to painting, although my father cautioned her constantly to take it easy. I’m not sure she knew what that meant. She seemed almost driven by an unidentifiable force. She finished two paintings in record time and started on a third.
One Friday morning, my father joined us for breakfast instead of hurrying off to work like he usually did.
“ Want to go out on the schooner tomorrow?” he asked me.
“ That’s a great idea,” my mother said. “I’ll pack us a picnic lunch.”
My father frowned. “Dani, perhaps you should stay―”
“ I feel great, Jack. Quit being such a worry-wart.”
Early the next morning, we packed a large basket and drove to the harbor. When we reached the dock where the Finland Fancy was moored, I noticed another schooner in her place.
“ Where’s your boat, Dad?” I asked, confused. “And what’s that one doing in your spot?”
My father chuckled. “That’s her, Sarah.”
I eyed him as if he’d lost his mind. “What?”
“ She’s been refinished, inside and out,” he explained. “Looks great, huh?”
Stunned, I examined the Finland Fancy . She had been given a fresh coat of paint to see her through the winter months and looked sparkling clean. Her deck had been stained in a cherrywood finish and the hull was painted a pale blue with a royal blue trim.
“ Wow,” I said, awestruck. “I didn’t even recognize her.”
“ Yeah, me too when I first saw her,” he said.
Skip greeted us with a friendly salute, his white hair curling under his captain’s hat. He patted me on the head, went to his cabin and prepared to leave the harbor.
“ Get Mom a glass of water,” my father told me as he untied the moor lines and pushed off from the dock.
I headed below deck to the galley and poured ice water into two glasses―one for my mother and one for me. I took them up top where my father was fussing over my mother.
“ Go below if the sun gets too hot,” he warned her.
Rolling her eyes, she settled into her chair and slipped on some sunglasses. “Yes, dear.”
I released a pent-up sigh. It was wonderful to see her healthy again. Everything seemed normal and I tried to put my fears to rest.
Bundled warmly in blankets on the deck, we listened to the songs of the sea. With the echolocation equipment, we heard numerous fish, a couple of seal lions and at last the familiar sound of the killer whale. My father scribbled constantly in his notebook―seemingly in another world―while my mother and I stared up at the clouds and tried to distinguish shapes and creatures.
“ That one looks like a fairy,” she said, pointing at a fluffy, cotton candy cloud.
“ Or an angel,” I added.
We gazed at the sky and watched the fairy angel dissipate until it stretched into an abstract design. It made me think of something I’d been meaning to ask her for a long time.
“ Mom, do you believe in Heaven?”
There was an imperceptible tremble in my mother’s hand as she carefully plucked off her sunglasses and folded them in her lap. Then she released a long breath and her eyes skimmed
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