Cloud Windows

  Years ago, my aunt told me that whenever I saw a hole in the clouds, it was a window from Heaven.  "Whenever you see a hole like that, wave hello to your grandmother because surely she is looking down from Heaven to check on you!"  For the longest time, I did wave at the sky.  Hopefully, my grandmother saw me waving at her since I missed her terribly.  Then, later, someone mentioned that the hole in the clouds was a stairway to Heaven.  With that, I searched for stairs leading up to the sky but never found them so I went back to waving.  If I could not climb stairs to visit Grandmother, I would have to resort to the old method of sending my hello.

  The other day, I was on the pier when I noticed the sun gleaming through the clouds in one particular spot.  The dark clouds around the bright spot were ominous.  Rain threatened at any moment but all I could think about was my parents, grandparents and all the other folks in my life that had passed.  It has been decades and decades since my aunt made mention of the cloud holes but I have never forgotten her simple message.  It was not about waving, visiting or missing folks.  It is about keeping memories alive.  That is good enough for me....but...just in case Grandmother was peering through that hole, I gave a little wave.