The summer in Indiana rolled into a hot drought in June. It was the time Kelly decided to drive Bernard and his fiance Fran to Bernards cancer treatments. The ride would be over an hour drive east down the traffic infested highway and construction detours. There were car accidents most days of each week from the full four weeks Kelly would be driving them.
It was Bernards car that he requested to be taken in and sitting in the back seat on Kellys left hand side she could view his frail state for he was tall and very thin. In the passenger seat sat Fran, a petite woman in her seventys' with a keen and alert sense in caring for her partner. The sun showed itself most days and rain poured heavily at different intervals each ride back to dropping the couple off at home.
There was wooded valleys on both sides for miles along the highway to Bernards doctors office. Kelly drove the speed limit with concern for her passengers in the car, and paid most of her attention to the road in front of her in the midst of her chatty desire with the classy and elegant Fran Di Eloise whose sons owned a successful business in New Hampshire selling farm equiptment such as plows and tractors.
She talked joyfully of her family and her hopes for their future success with their families and company. Each day grew more and more pleasant in conversation that began with small chat about Kelly's city antics in modeling, art, and office work. Kelly told of her relationships with co-workers, boyfriends, the late night partying, and her turn to come home and focus on her career with fear and a intrigue. She discovered that while telling Fran of her city adventures that it was a steady hum in her heart that brought her to realization as to what brought her to the city in the first place, dreadfully it was to run away from herself. Frans eyes grew disinterested and she looked out the window with sincerity in her voice.
Fran was Kellys mothers and her good friend who was there years ago during a traumatic time in Kellys young life. Kelly faced a car accident that brought her patience and grace in her recovery from a traumatic head injury. Fran warmly invited a young Kelly into her home and they sang, prayed, and ate french toast with Frans touch of frying oil for crisp and melted butter.
Bernard came into Frans life soon after Kelly strengthened from her injuries. The two love birds danced and ate out romantically on weekends and took many trips to Florida where Bernards grandchildren resided. Bernard made Fran very happy within those years. Fran on the phone in the waiting room with her Mary Jane Candy while Bernard was in radiation kept a poised expression and firmness in her voice to take care of new appointments Bernard would be facing in his final days of cancer. Bernard carried a charm, and hearty sense of humor with Kelly she noticed stunned. He taught her a thing or two contructively about driving, and dieting and Kelly listened and learned intently with willingness.
Kelly brought them coffee sometimes and would find a quiet place in the clinic to move to the vending machine room to get rid of her car sickness. Yet in her gut she felt nothing more important than to sit by the elderly friends side each moment. As difficult as it was to see how sharp and in charge little Fran was for her Bernard Kelly knew Fran to be a trully Godly woman. Each visit Fran would take one Mary Jane from the front desk bowl of candy. Wrapped in its yellow and red wax paper, Kelly watched with calmly and still Frans soft and pale petite fingers open the candy.
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