January 3, 1933
Santa Monica
An evening breeze swept over the front porch of the Dawson residence. Rose's auburn tendrils billowed slightly in the wind. As her husband, Jack, watched, he never ceased to be amazed by her beauty. Over the years, he had done many drawings of her, but not once had he captured her real beauty on paper. The family had moved back to Santa Monica three years before. The depression had hit hard everywhere, but Jack's business was going strong. He owned a small gallery near the pier. He showcased his own art as well as young up and coming artists. He knew how hard it was for young artists to show their work. Rose had not returned to the pictures since the late 1920's. She was simply living her life the way she wanted to, just being a wife and a mother. Lizzy was now almost twenty and had been in New York since their move back to the States, studying history at a university. Olivia had shown an early interest in movies, just like her mother, and when she turned seventeen in July, she was going to go to live in New York with Lizzy to work in a dance studio there. Charlie was twelve and just like his father. He was a keen fisherman and loved art. Rose had taken Lilly on as her own child. She was now eight and very quiet. She resembled her mother more than Jack, but Rose had felt it was the right thing to adopt her as her daughter, just as Jack had Lizzy. Jonathon was their youngest at four, just starting school and already into mischief.
The sun set in the distance and Rose took advantage of the peace and quiet while she could.
“Isn't it lovely?” Rose felt Jack's presence behind her. He sat beside her on the porch swing.
“It is. It hasn’t changed since I came here back in 1910. It seems like forever.”
“Twenty-three years,” Rose added up, and turned to face Jack. “It's over twenty years since we first met.”
“And yet it still feels like yesterday. That young, beautiful woman about to throw herself from the Titanic.”
Shaking her head, even Rose laughed at her own stupidity. “Thank God you were there to save me.” She smiled.
“Twenty years. It’s too long, Rose. It feels like just the other day, but then I look at our children and realize just how long ago it really was.”
“I cannot believe Lizzy is at the university. Olivia will be joining her soon. One by one, our children are going to fly the nest.” Rose laughed.
“Well, Jonny's only four. We have a while to go yet. Besides, we'll have to keep an eye on him with his tricks.”
“He's just like Charlie at that age.” Rose thought back to 1923, when she had visited the art museum in Chicago. If it hadn’t been for Charlie running off, she wondered if she would have met Jack again that day. “Remember Chicago, Jack? That was ten years ago.”
“We seemed to always manage to find each other again, no matter what happened or how much we hurt each other. We somehow managed to find a way to find each other. It took thirteen years of running to get to where we are now.” Jack reminisced about the years he could have been with Rose, but they had never seen the sense. He thought of Amelia and how she never got to see Lilly grow, but he hoped she had forgiven him, and that wherever she was, she was happy.
“Well, we have each other now, Jack. After all of the starts and stops, the hurt and pain, we finally found a way to be together. It was fate, Jack.”
Rose rested her head against Jack and he put his arm around her shoulders and gently kissed her forehead as they gazed out into the sunset. They knew the rest of their lives would be happy and spent together.
Well here we are again
I guess it must be fate
We've tried it on our own
But deep inside we've known
We'd be back to set things straight
I still remember when
Your kiss was so brand new
Every memory repeats
Every step I take retreats
Every journey always
Brings me back to you
After all the stops and starts
We keep coming back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
And after all that we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be
Forever you and me
After all
When love is truly right
This time it's truly right
It lives from year to year
It changes as it goes
Oh and on the way it grows
But it never disappears
Always just beyond my touch
Though I needed you so much
After all what else is living for.
The End.