Just one minute

A minute, sixty seconds, one sixtieth of an hour...how often we take for granted all that may incur within a minute in time.

In just one minute; I'll be ready in one minute; it all happened in just one minute....just one minute.

In just one minute, you were gone. One minute without warning, in one minute you left. In just one minute your eyes closed and your body became cold. In just one minute, you were gone.

It was a call I did not anticipate. A call from someone I did not expect to hear on the other side since the call was coming from your phone. You went away for what was meant to be a brief moment in time. You never said 'good-bye'. You walked away and never said 'good-bye'.

Our last conversation was left with the acknowledgement that you would be returning. We had so much to talk about. So much that we needed to clear out, hash out. We had plans to move forward, however, destiny had other plans.

It was 7:15 am.

Why do I remember that time?

I had had a difficult sleep that night. It had been a difficult couple of weeks and that night was no different. However, somehow, that morning was like no other.

I woke up suddenly. Was it a nightmare? It felt like a nightmare.

My head was spinning, I had difficulty grasping my breath, something did not feel right.

For a minute, one eternal minute, I gasped, I grabbed my chest, and grappled at my head. "Why? Why are you weighing so heavily in my thoughts this morning?" I asked. You had crossed my mind on many a moment during the last few weeks, but somehow something felt different this morning.

It was almost as if... you were right there.

I heard my name, I swear I heard my name. It felt like a soft breeze brushing by my face or the buzzing of a fly as it tried to intervene within the tombs of my ear canal before my hand would attempt to swat it away, it was the sound of a whisper, the mere breath that elusively called out my name to which I awoke to abruptly...was it a dream? A nightmare?

"Why? Why are you in my head?" was all I could ask myself. I quickly shook it off, I had to, and proceeded to move forth with the day. It was my day off and I needed to tend to a few errands.

Little did I know that in the one minute that it took me to brush off the overpowering sensation of your presence, you were taking your last breath miles away.

It wasn't until exactly two and a half hours later that I received the call. "He's gone! He's gone, they didn't want me to call you but I knew that you needed to know." Without fully comprehending the words that I just heard, I told the person on the other line that I couldn't speak to them at that moment and that I would call them back in a few minutes. I then tried to grab a hold of my breath and keep myself from collapsing upon the ground.

I ran back upstairs, leaving behind all that I had placed upon a counter to purchase for it was grocery shopping day, and I proceeded to make that dreaded phone call as I kept trying to rationalize in my head that I did not hear correctly for it was too loud at the supermarket.

I finally picked up my phone upon my arrival and made that dreaded phone call back. As I quietly listened, I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

"He collasped and just suddenly stopped breathing. "

The words heard felt like a loud scream, or the sound of a jackhammer as it hit the cement ground.

"When, how...wwwwhat happened?" I quietly stammered out, all the while trying to hold on to the tears which were beginning to stream out of the corners of my eyes, like a small leak beginning from a faucet.

It was completely unexpected and unforeseen. He had been complaining that he did not feel well but why didn't anyone see that he should have been taken to a doctor? Why didn't he say something more?

My ears continued to listen:

"He collasped at 6:45 am. They were having breakfast when they heard a loud thud. His body had hit the ground. They ran to him and tried to resusitate him."

"Wake up, open your eyes. Say something, hurry call the ambulance!" these are the words I heard. I continued to listen:

"7:00 am, they were still struggling, waiting for the ambulance that was called." I listened...

"7:05 am, the ambulance finally arrived. They worked on him for what felt like an eternal lifetime." I took in all the words still hoping...

"Finally at 7:15, he took his last breath..." I stood completely silent for a moment, trying to capture and process my thoughts, "Thank you." was all I could say as I hung up.

I stood there, numb, in total disbelief as I recalled what I had experienced earlier that morning.

I heard my name whispered upon my ear...it was you... I now know it was you. Your last breath, taken within that one minute, the one minute it took for me to try to shake off your presence this morning.

I now know it was your way of saying, "Good-bye".