A Life Filled with Possibilities

“What?” she yelled angrily as she yanked open the weathered white, wooden door at the entrance to the two flat she shared with her college roommate, Debbie.

A small man wearing a dark suit, a round, old-fashioned, black hat, and reading glasses was looking up at her from the top of the steps leading to her front door. "Hello," he said tentatively. He consulted his little, black book, “Ms. Kelly Warawazweke?”

“Warwazwek, “she corrected him. “Barry, I’ll call you back. No, I promise. Not now, Barry, bye.” Kelly jabbed the hang-up button on her cheap cell phone before sticking it in the back pocket of her best skinny jeans.

“Who are you?” she asked, rather abruptly.

The little man, still looking up at her, introduced himself. “I am Albert, Albert Markum.” From the right front pocket of his expensive, older suit, he produced a business card. The card read simply: Albert Markum, Personal Assistant.

Kelly looked at the card and then at the man, “Personal Assistant? Who do you personally assist?”

Albert caught himself staring unfavorably at the young woman standing in front of him. Her long, kinky, blond hair was streaked with green and her loose, red blouse was hanging off one shoulder while tattoos of blue butterflies flew up the latte-colored skin of her left arm, under her blouse, and onto her neck. When his employer told him his mission, he had been skeptical. How would she, a woman who had spent most of her life moving in the upper echelons of society, know a young woman who lived in a two flat in this part of the city? Yet here he was standing on this young woman’s doorstep.

He tried again, “As the card says, my name is Albert Markum. My employer, Maureen Benton, asked me to find you and bring a letter to you, personally.”

“Your employer, Ms. Benton, she could not bring it herself?” Kelly responded snarkily. Really, she had so much chaos in her life right now. A letter from someone she did not know was the last thing she needed. She was probably being sued because she was behind on the rent again.

“Sadly, no, she passed.”

“Passed?” Kelly said with a confused look on her face.

“Passed, as in passed away. Died.” Albert was becoming frustrated with this exchange and pressed to move it along. “My employer, Mrs. Benton, passed away three weeks ago. I am in the process of concluding some of her final business.”

“Maureen Benton?” Kelly repeated, still not sure who he was talking about.

“You met on a cruise…,” he supplied.

“Oh, Mo! Mo is dead? Oh my, God!”

Kelly and Maureen had met on a cruise through the Panama Canal. Kelly had scrimped and saved her money as a barista at a local coffee shop and a nighttime customer service operator to pay for the trip. For as long as she could remember, it had been her dream to see the place where the canal joined two powerful oceans. As she flashed back to the cruise, she remembered spending most of her time in the company of Maureen who had insisted on Kelly calling her Mo. While Maureen had offered to pay for drinks or souvenirs for her, Kelly had scrupulously insisted on paying her own way. She had not wanted Maureen’s money. She genuinely enjoyed Maureen’s company and cherished their time together. Sadly, she lost touch with Maureen once the cruise was over.

Albert became impatient to finish this bequest. But when he looked up from the little, black book in his hands, he could see that the young woman was genuinely moved to tears by the loss of his employer. Respectfully, he removed his hat and his initial impatience softened. Not one of Maureen’s heirs, or even her so called friends, had shed a tear for her. Admittedly, she was not the easiest person to be befriend or even to serve. Yet over the more than 30 years he had assisted her, he had come to respect and even care for his employer. However, after the cruise through the Panama Canal when she met this young woman, she had become a different person. Something had changed, and he could see now she had been transformed by their brief friendship.

With that, he pulled out a letter which was stuck in the back of his little, black book and handed it to her. “This belongs to you,” he said.

Kelly took the letter and ran her fingers over the fine stationary. Then she slipped her finger under the flap, sealed with wax, tore it open, and carefully pulled out the letter, written beautifully in cursive. The ink was a lovely shade of lavender. Kelly could even smell the old, expensive perfume on the paper, so reminiscent of her friend.

My Dearest Kelly,

By now, my loyal assistant and dear friend, Albert, has told you of my passing. I have had a long life, but unfortunately, I feel as if I wasted so much of it. I squandered the gifts I was given in this life until I met you. Despite our short time together, your optimism, hope, and compassion made me realize I still had something to give. So, I did. You will find when you attend the reading of my will, which you will have to do, that most of my heirs will leave unhappy. They are expecting large bequests that will not be coming because, instead, I used the time I had left to invest those bequests in the futures of young women like you. You are our future, a young woman with all the wonder, love, and possibility you bring to this world. Do not ever forget that. Use your time on this Earth well, because you will find at the end of your life that our time goes so quickly. Many blessings in all you do. I will be watching from the other side.

Your dear friend,

Maureen

P.S. Dump that boyfriend!

While she read the letter, tears dripped down the front of her cheeks. But upon reaching Mo’s last words, she snorted in laughter. Barry was the caller she hung up on when she answered the door. She had been trying to break it off with him since the cruise! Maureen was right: it was time to put a period on the end of that relationship.

Albert was quietly looking up and down the street not wanting to stare at the young woman as her lips quietly moved while she read. He also did not want to intrude on her grief.

When she finished the letter, wiping her eyes with the back of her left hand, she stepped down next to Albert.

“Thank you,” she leaned over and pulled him into a hug, crushing the surprised Albert’s hat in the process. Then, she stepped back and folded the letter, putting it reverently back into the envelope.

Holding the letter in her left hand, she stuck out her right hand and shook Albert’s hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Markum! Thank you for delivering this beautiful letter. It is a great gift.”

With that, she turned to go into the house.

“Wait,” he said just as she stepped onto her doorstep.

Standing in her doorway, she turned to face him, smiling at him almost ethereally.

“I don’t think you understand. Maureen, I mean Mrs. Benton, left you a bequest: $20,000 and a ticket to travel around the world on an all-expenses paid cruise. She asked me to stay in contact with you, so when you return, I can introduce you to some of her friends. She believes they need the kind of help you have to offer them.”

Kelly frowned, “But, that is so generous. I don’t think I can accept. I mean, I don’t want to take advantage of Mo’s money. She was just a kind, sweet person. I was grateful to know her.”

Her response took Albert aback. When Maureen changed her will to give this unknown, young woman so much, he had balked. But there was no doubt. This young woman had been the catalyst for a change in his employer that had resonated throughout her family and her investments. Her transformation had been amazing and while he had always respected her, Albert had come to realize that he loved her, not in a romantic way, but as a friend and a mentor. Her bequest to him had already changed his life for the better as well.

He smiled and fumbled a bit, “I am sorry, but Mrs. Benton, Maureen, she had an extremely specific reason for insisting on you taking the all-expenses paid cruise. She would like you to take her ashes with you and spread them in the Indian Ocean. She always wanted to travel to India, but she never was able. She wanted you to see India for her.”

Kelly smiled and laughed, “So, she made sure that I would not turn down her gifts by asking me to spread her ashes.”

Albert smiled broadly and nodded, “Yes. She wanted you to have the opportunity to help others like her, to help them find their second chances.”

“Then, it would be my honor to carry Mo to her final resting place,” she responded.

Withdrawing a pen from his pocket, Albert wrote down a date, time, address, and phone number in his little, black book, tore out the page, and handed it to Kelly. “This is the address, date, and time for the reading of the will. Also, I have included my phone number. I will meet you here at 9:30 am, next week Tuesday, the 18th, and we can travel to the law office together. Mrs. Benton, Maureen, gave strict instructions that your check should be cut immediately after the reading of her will. Your ticket has already been purchased, although the dates can be changed.”

Kelly paused. Her only bank account was overdrawn, and she was sure that her bank would want to hold the check for an eternity until it cleared.

Sensing her hesitation, Albert answered, “Bring two pieces of identification to the reading, and we will go to Maureen’s bank and open an account for you to deposit the check. Then you can let the funds sit there until you return from the cruise.”

Enthusiastically, Kelly hopped off the stairs and gave Albert another joyous hug and a peck on the cheek, “Thank you, thank you, Albert. You are such a kind man to take care of this for Mo. She must have really loved you.”

Albert blushed and looked away when they separated. Kelly hopped back up on the doorstep and turned. “See you on Tuesday, the 18th, at 9:30 am and don’t worry, I will wear something more presentable.”

Albert laughed. “Kelly,” he said, “Come just as you are. It will drive Maureen’s heirs crazy. Trust me. It will be the best thing that ever happened to them!”

Then, he donned his now slightly crushed hat, removed his reading glasses, and pocketed both his glasses and little, black book in his jacket pocket. At the bottom of the steps, he turned to throw a last wave to Kelly, “Goodbye, Kelly! See you Tuesday.”

Standing on her doorstep watching him walk down the street, she smiled to herself. She marveled at how her life had completely changed in just a few short minutes. First off, it was time to call Barry and tell him she was moving on. He will get over it, she thought. And she would too, for her life had just opened into a myriad of new possibilities.

This time, she gently closed the paint chipped front door on her old life after she walked through her front entrance. It is time to look forward to the new, she thought, starting with buying one of those little, black books like Albert’s. It was time to start creating her new life.