Can't Wait to Get to Heaven

A Happier Time

3:38 PM

As Elner lay there being scanned from tip to top, she was bored, and wished she had taken the nurse up on that headphone thing. Just to pass the time, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts slip back to another place, long ago. She thought about the old farm; she could almost see her husband, Will, again, way off in the distance, plowing the fields with his mule, waving at her. She smiled to herself as she recalled the best time of day, when Will finished his work and would come banging into the house calling out for her, “Hey, woman. Where’s that good-looking wife of mine?” After he had his bath, they would have a big supper: some kind of meat, fresh vegetables, and a good dessert, and spend the rest of the evening just being together, listening to the radio or reading. Usually in bed by eight-thirty or nine.

Will had originally come from Kentucky. When they first met, he was working his way across the country, trying to get to California, and her daddy had hired him for a few weeks to help out on the farm. Six years earlier, their mother had died, leaving Elner, the eldest girl, to take over the cooking and cleaning and the raising of her two younger sisters. During Will’s stay, Elner had prepared all his meals, but he had not said much except “mighty fine victuals” and “thank you, ma’am.”

When his two weeks were up, Elner, her father, and her sisters had all been sitting out on the porch when Will walked up and stood in the yard, took his hat off, and said, “Mr. Knott, before I leave, I’d like your permission to speak to your daughter.” Henry Knott, a big six-foot-three man, had said, “Sure, son. Go ahead and speak your piece.”

Although he was a quiet boy, Elner liked him, and so she was happy he was interested in one of her sisters. She assumed he was probably sweet on Gerta, she was slender and had red hair, or maybe Ida, a dazzling brunette with green eyes who was only sixteen but already had plenty of boys buzzing around. Elner was a tall big-boned girl who had taken after her father’s side of the family and had never had a beau, and with her two pretty sisters around certainly never planned on having one. However, that afternoon, little Will Shimfissle, not more than five-foot-five inches tall and one hundred fifteen pounds soaking wet, hat in hand had walked over and stopped directly in front of her. “Elner Jane,” he’d said, clearing his throat, “as soon as I can earn enough money to get a place of my own, I intend to come back and ask you to be my wife. What I need to know before I go is, do I stand a chance?”

This unexpected event had taken Elner so by surprise, she had immediately burst into tears, jumped up, and run into the house. Will was totally taken aback and had looked over to Mr. Knott for help. “Sir, was that a yes or a no?” Her father was as baffled as Will and answered, “Well, son, it could mean either one, you never can tell about women, let me go find out.” He got up and went inside and knocked on the bedroom door. “Elner, that boy’s out there waiting for an answer, you need to tell him something, I don’t think he’s going to leave till you do.” Then he heard Elner cry even louder. He opened the door and went in and sat on the bed beside her. She looked up at him tearfully. “It was just such a surprise, I don’t know what to say.”

He took her hand and patted it. “Well, I guess it comes down to this, you have to decide. Do you want that little bitty thing for a husband or not?”

She looked up with tears running down her face. “I think I do, Daddy,” she said, and burst into tears again.

“You do?” Now he was surprised. He had not seen this coming at all. He hated the thought of losing Elner but said, “Well, honey, he’s not big enough to make much of a husband, but he’s a hard worker, I’ll say that for him, so if you want him, go on out there and tell him.”

“I can’t. You tell him.”

He said, “Well, daughter, it would mean a lot more coming from you, but all right.” He stood up and walked out onto the porch, shook his head in amazement, and said, “I don’t understand it, boy, but you got yourself a yes.” Both the girls screamed, jumped up, and ran inside to find Elner, giggling and excited. Will beamed from ear to ear and walked up and shook Mr. Knott’s hand. “Thank you, sir, thank you,” he said. “You tell her I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I will.” Then Mr. Knott put his hand on Will’s shoulder, pulled him aside so the others couldn’t hear, and said quietly, “You know you got the best of the lot, don’t you, son?”

Will looked him straight in the eye and answered, “Yes sir, I do.”

True to his word, Will came back a year and a half later and bought twenty-five acres about ten miles from her daddy’s farm. Elner had never expected to marry, had never dreamed she would be the first sister to get married. But later Will told her he had her picked out from the start. “I knew it the first time I laid eyes on you that you were the one for me. Yes sir.” He said, “You are my big strong beautiful woman.” They made an odd couple, tall and stocky Elner and little skinny Will, but they had been happy together, and she couldn’t wait to see him again.

Meanwhile, back in Elmwood Springs, poor Verbena Wheeler had been so embarrassed to have to call the radio station back, and now she wished she hadn’t walked over and told Cathy at the newspaper office about Elner, but she had. She picked up her Bible and flipped through it looking for help. After finally finding the perfect quote, she dialed Cathy.

“Cathy? Verbena. I want to read you something from Luke 8:52 to 55.”

“Oh, Lord,” thought Cathy, “not again.” But said, “All right.”

“Are you listening?”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“But he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once.”

Cathy tried to be patient and waited for her to explain why she had to read it to her, but Verbena was silent.

“Yes, and…?”

“I think you should know that we have a similar situation going on right this very minute. Elner Shimfissle just got up!”