All looked well with my brother Tom and his wife Carla. They had just finished supper with their son, Tom Jr. and his family. Tom and Carla stood in their driveway, waving goodbye to the kids in the departing car.

Tom had more wrinkles and Carla seemed more frail since I last checked on them. I smiled inwardly, able to see and feel the contentment in their hearts. That’s all that mattered.

There was then a ripple on the surface of the looking spring, and the image faded. Innumerable springs were scattered all throughout Heaven, for the citizens to see and communicate what they needed to on their homeworlds.

I turned, sensing Judith emerging.

Judith was my wife of 48 years in northern Michigan and my kindred soul now. For 5 years after my death, I would often watch Judith in the springs. She would feign strength to the kids, work in her garden, knit and read a lot. One day she had a heart attack and I greeted her as she ascended to the new life.

“I thought I would find you here again, Sam.”