I retired in 2014 and planned a two-week “Autumn Leaves” tour to the East Coast with a friend, for the end of September.
Another friend, Roger, who lived up north, came down to take care of my house and cat while I was gone.
We had been gone almost a week. Being busy, I had not talked to Roger, but left a message or two. I figured he was in and out, seeing friends and doing things, so wasn’t surprised not to hear from him.
We were ready to start our second week when I received a phone call from the Vancouver police, saying they were at my house — and of course your heart drops right there! A kind neighbor across the street had noticed my garage door open for several days, grew concerned and ended up calling the police. I was so thankful for him.
The police found Roger’s body inside and figured he had probably passed away several days earlier. What a shock!
We always wondered if he went quickly or could have lain there calling out for help. It was pretty rough to think about, and I did quite often. (I did see the death certificate and it stated he had suffered a “cerebellar hematoma.”)
Maybe a year or so later, a friend of Roger’s called and asked to come over and show me something unusual and a little spooky. That morning, while dressing and putting money, keys and stuff into his pockets from off the dresser, the friend had found a small note, written in a hand that he seemed to recognize, that read “I NEVER LIVED TO YELL.”
We compared the writing to writing in an address book that Roger had left at my house, and the writing was the same. The weird thing was that the paper it was written on was from one of those small pre-printed notepads we all receive in the mail, and it had my name on the top along with some fall pumpkins.
We looked at each other as if we had seen, or gotten a message from, a ghost! I’m not sure how things work in life (or after death!), but I truly feel we were given a short message letting us know that Roger did go quickly, and so I could quit worrying about him, once and for all.
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