This story, "Sonny and Ethel: The Comfort of Love ," will be in Until We Meet Again: Stories of Everlasting Love, one of the books in the series COMFORT FROM BEYOND

"Sonny and Ethel: The Comfort of Love"
Roberta Sandler

In the 1940s, people sometimes mistook Sonny Sandler for Betty Grable's former husband, bandleader Harry James. Sonny's wife, Ethel, was thin, blonde, and pretty, just like Betty Grable, but she wasn't glamorous and she wasn't famous. The Grable-James marriage ended in divorce, but Sonny and Ethel, who had been high-school sweethearts, shared an enduring, deep love for each other that lasted for 50 years.

When I married into the Sandler family, Sonny and Ethel became my new uncle and aunt. It was easy to adore them. They were an affectionate, fun-loving couple, and they welcomed me as their new niece. Through the decades, I had many opportunities to witness their love for each other.

Uncle Sonny was proud of his wife and the way she cared for him and their two sons. Aunt Ethel was old fashioned in some ways. She liked to dote upon her husband. He could have helped her around the house, but Aunt Ethel believed a hard-working husband and father was entitled to relaxation when he was at home.

Her philosophy may have made him feel like a king, but it did have a drawback. Uncle Sonny never had to make his own sandwich, or plug in a vacuum. He wasn't certain where his wife kept the cleaning supplies or the box of teabags. He didn't have to know. Aunt Ethel was always there to manage her domestic domain.

When my aunt and uncle retired to Florida, they reveled in a simple, stress-free lifestyle they had yearned for and worked toward for so many years. They made new friends, enjoyed their social life, and occasionally traveled. The golden years seemed promising. Then Aunt Ethel was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Our entire family was shocked and saddened, but she took the news stoically. She was determined to follow the course of treatment that might put her cancer into remission. For Uncle Sonny, the news was devastating. All these many years, he had been Ethel's protector, but now he was helpless to shield her. As a couple, they were the epitome of togetherness, enjoying each other's company, sharing interests and
activities, holding hands in public. For the first time in his life, Sonny felt a fear he had never known--the fear of losing Ethel.

Ethel knew that she had spoiled Sonny. He depended upon her just as she depended upon him. She knew that if the cancer overtook her, he would have to be strong. In some ways, he would have to learn to do for himself.

On the day before Ethel's death, I went to the hospital to say my last loving goodbyes to her. I leaned over the bed rail and kissed hercheek. Even in her thin, weak, sedated state, she looked beautiful. She opened her eyes and saw me. She smiled. Then she noticed Uncle Sonny sitting tearfully in a chair opposite the bed.

In a voice that was surprisingly strong, Ethel looked into her husband's eyes and said, "Now don't you fall apart."

It was so typical of Ethel, as though she were saying, "Don't you worry about me. I'll be fine. You just take care of yourself and enjoy your life."

The funeral was an ordeal for Sonny. With the lowering of her casket, he felt as though he were abandoning his wife. She would be alone now, no longer able to reach out and hold his hand. The thought frightened him. Doting friends and relatives kept him company and brought him food, but for many days afterward, Uncle Sonny remained in his house, surrounded by everything that reminded him of his loving wife, everything that kept him close to her.

“I cry and I cry," Uncle Sonny confided to me. "I didn't think it was possible to have so many tears inside me. I constantly wonder, Where is she? Is she afraid? Is she lonely? Does she feel lost? I just wish I knew if she was safe and comfortable."

It was heartbreaking to see Uncle Sonny so tormented. "I'm sure she's at peace," I replied, because it seemed like a comforting thing to say, and I believed it was true. Aunt Ethel had been a pious, valorous woman with a good heart. Surely, she was in heaven.

Two weeks after Aunt Ethel's death, Uncle Sonny accepted my invitation to come for dinner. When he arrived, I immediately noticed a difference in him. His stooped shoulders were straighter. His red, teary eyes were clearer. His brooding expression was replaced with one of serenity. There was a smile on his lips. I heard the lilt in his voice when he spoke.

"Last night I had an unexplainable but unmistakable experience," Uncle Sonny said. "I was asleep when I heard or felt something--like a presence in the room. I opened my eyes and there, at the foot of the bed, was Ethel. My Ethel. She looked so beautiful. I was afraid to touch her for fear she would go away.

“Ethel knew what I was thinking, and she said to me, 'I'm all right. I'm very happy. Don't fall apart.'"

Uncle Sonny said that he was so overcome with joy that his eyes filled with tears. He wiped his eyes with his hands and when he opened his eyes again, Ethel was gone.

"I know she was in that room," Uncle Sonny insisted. "She came to reassure me that she was in God's loving hands. Now I know that with God's grace, Ethel and I will meet again in heaven."

My Uncle Sonny passed away a year later. His memory of Ethel's words, whispered in the darkness of his bedroom, had given him comfort and peace of mind to face each of his remaining days. I believe that he was right, and that he and Aunt Ethel are holding hands and smiling at each other in heaven.

This true story will appear in The Reassurance of Angels, one of the books in the anthology series COMFORT FROM BEYOND. This hardcover book will be published by Guideposts Books. If you have a true story that might fit in this new series, please send your story to me, Phyllis Hobe, at:

P.O. Box 214
East Greenville, PA 18041

or email me at cfb@netcarrier.com

If your story is accepted, you will be offered a fee and sent a permission request to sign. We are asking for first rights. Either way, you will be able to sell the story elsewhere after we have published it.

For more information about the types of stories we need, please check out the submissions page. Thank you.