Kat turned off the cd player after the first story on it ended. Tears streamed down her cheeks. The story had reminded her of the day Burl had been shot. She didn't think she would ever forget that day. It seemed to her that the whole world changed that day.
The first she had heard about the shooting had been on the radio while driving home from the diner where she worked as a waitress. The initial story had been about an attempted bank robbery that had been stopped by a mall security guard who was wounded in the process. She hadn't thought much about the news item other than it being another sign of troubled times.
The second time she heard the news story, they mentioned the name of the mall. Suddenly, her thoughts had turned to Burl. A sick feeling had settled in her stomach. She nearly lost control of her car when he was mentioned by name. She was pretty sure that they weren't supposed to release the names of victims before the family had been informed.
After picking Herbie up from school, she had rushed home to see if there was any coverage on the television. Herbie had sat beside her recognizing that his mother was upset about something. For a change, he didn't prattle on about his day at school.
Maggie, carrying Junior, rushed over to the house when Kat pulled into the driveway. Tears were running down her face. She was clearly distraught.
When Kat had gotten out of the car, Maggie had shouted, "Burl's been shot."
"I heard," Kat had said.
"He's in critical condition," Maggie had said.
"Oh my God!" Kat had exclaimed.
It was only then when Kat realized she had been crying. At the time, she didn't understand her reaction to the news. The last time she had felt that same sense of loss was when she had learned Jimmy had died. Burl was just a neighbor. Maggie had agreed to watch Herbie while Kat went to the hospital.
She recalled the chaos at the hospital. The hospital had swelled with personnel to handle the sudden increase in serious injuries. The press was there in full force trying to get interviews with anyone who would talk to them. The police were there in large numbers. A number of people from the mall were there trying to find out what happened.
The attempted robbery had resulted in four people being taken to the hospital. One robber had been shot by Carl and was in critical condition. One robber had broken his back when Burl had shoved him into the table. Carl had ended up with a broken cheek bone from the blow with the butt of the shotgun. Burl had taken a shotgun blast to the stomach.
There had been over twenty people waiting to hear news about Burl with another two dozen coming and going. She hadn't recognized anyone except his parents. They had been sitting there in shock unable to believe their son had been shot. Almost as shocking for them was the number of people who had massed at the hospital.
Needless to say, the family members of the bank robbers did not receive a friendly welcome in the waiting area of the emergency room. No one was outright hostile, but there were a lot of dirty looks in their direction. The hospital staff ended up putting them in a separate area.
The hours passed without word from the doctors. All anyone knew was that Burl was still in surgery. The tension in the waiting room increased while people speculated if the longer time in surgery was a good sign or not. Mostly it was people trying to convince themselves that Burl would be okay.
Kat had found she was seated next to a young woman in a wheelchair. The young woman, Denise, was sobbing uncontrollably. It took some time, but Kat slowly discovered how Burl had helped the young woman by giving her a sense of independence. He had found a very creative means for her to take care of herself. The story brought Kat to the verge of tears.
An elderly woman, quite frail looking, stopped in the waiting room to get news about Burl. She introduced herself as Emma, Carl's wife. She was at the hospital to visit her husband while he was recovering from the blow he had taken during the robbery. They had kept him overnight in case the blow to his head had unforeseen consequences.
Later, the investigation determined that one of the men who participated in the attempted robbery had been casing the bank when Carl and Burl had been discussing her cancer. They had decided to call the bank with news that Emma had been taken to the hospital as a means of getting rid of the guard. The fact that he had waited to leave until a replacement had arrived had taken them by surprise.
Emma's story about her cancer was the equivalent of dropping a nuclear emotional bomb on the folks waiting to learn about Burl. Kat and Denise had burst into tears upon hearing how Burl had saved Carl who was taking care of his frail wife while she was fighting cancer. In a way, it made Burl's actions sound even more heroic. He hadn't only saved a man's life, he had provided an ill woman with the precious gift of a loving supporter.
The time in the waiting room had turned into story time with people telling stories of how Burl had helped them or someone important to them. Some stories were about simple acts of kindness. Other stories involved acts that required more effort on his part.
It had been early in the evening when the surgeon came out and broke the news that Burl had been taken to intensive care. Burl's parents had gone up to see him. Less than ten minutes later they had returned to the waiting room white faced. Burl had gone into cardiac arrest almost the moment they had gone into his room. It was thirty minutes before his parents had been told they could see him again.
Kat had gone home wondering if Burl was going to survive the night. She couldn't believe at the time how upset she felt. Not finding her son at home, she had gone over to Maggie's house to pick up Herbie. She visited a few minutes with Maggie and George giving them the lowdown on events at the hospital. The young couple listened horrified at how Burl had gone into cardiac arrest when his parents went into the room. George knew Burl's parents and couldn't imagine how they must have felt.
Kat had taken Herbie home and then put him into bed. She turned on the news hoping to catch some more information about what had happened at the mall. Some of the details she heard at the hospital about what had happened had been contradictory. There was even confusion as to when he had been shot. One person said it was before he had taken care of a robber and another said it was after he had taken care of both robbers.
Apparently it was a slow news day and the local news channels had covered the robbery like it had been the president who had been shot. There were dozens of interviews with people who worked in the mall. The stories they told were about a nice guy who helped everyone. Quite a few women were crying while talking to the reporters. Kat had watched the news feeling sick to her stomach.
The night had been spent wondering what life without Burl around would be like. She didn't like the future her imagination created. It wasn't the absence of the big things that he did that painted a bleak future, just a lot of little things like bringing over the right Halloween costume for Herbie, mowing her lawn, and cleaning snow off the drive and walkway. It was knowing that he would be there if she needed him to watch Herbie or a ride to take her car in to be serviced.
The front door opened startling her out of her trip down memory lane. She turned to look at her husband. She wiped her eyes to hide her tears.
"How was your day?" she asked struggling to get control of her emotions.
"Same old, same old," he answered taking note of the wetness around her eyes.
She said, "Dinner will be ready soon."
"What's the matter, honey?" he asked.
"I was just listening to a CD and it brought back some painful memories," she answered.
"What CD?"
"A new CD by Laura Lane. It came in the mail today," she answered.
Laura Lane had achieved a fame that she had never pursued. The combination of singing and story telling resonated with people jaded by Hollywood creativity. It seemed in her stories the smaller the person, the greater their story. People flocked to hear her tell stories about individuals who were just like them.
Her reputation had started spreading as a result of videos posted on the internet. They were relatively long for that medium since each one showed her singing one of her songs and then telling a story. Then had come the CDs which she sold between sets. A guy she met in Boston put up a website and started selling her CDs on it.
Everything snowballed from there. People started showing up at places where she was planning on singing before she even got there. Soon she was attracting huge crowds that created problems for local law enforcement who weren't ready to deal with hundreds of people waiting for a singer to show up on a sidewalk somewhere. Rather than playing on the street, she was now playing clubs and concert halls.
"How is it?" he asked.
She answered, "It's excellent. It's one of the best albums I've ever heard. She's still weaving stories between her songs. I was just listening to her tell a story. She told a very good one about a big man with a heart a mile wide."
"I haven't heard that one," he said. "Is it one of her new ones?"
"No. It is one of her old stories," Kat answered. "She's been telling it a long time now."
"I wonder why I haven't heard it before," he said. He thought he had heard most of her stories.
"I'm not surprised considering who it is about," she said with a smile.
"Who is it about?" he asked.
He settled on the couch next to her and threw an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled against him feeling comforted and protected in his embrace.
"I'll tell you later."
"Was there a letter?" he asked.
"Of course."
"Can I read it?" he asked.
"It was addressed to me," she answered.
"She always liked you better than me," he said grumpily.
"Rightfully so," Kat said with a smile.
"Can I read the letter?"
"If you beg nice enough," she answered.
"Pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top," he replied.
Grinning, she held out the letter for him. He took it from her and started to read the letter. He laughed upon reading the first line. It basically said that he was allowed to read this one since he would do it anyway.
Kat snuggled into his side and thought back to the day after Burl had been shot. She had stopped by the hospital before heading off for her job at the diner. Burl's condition was still listed as critical. People were still stopping by the hospital to see how he was doing. His parents were the only ones allowed in his room and they were worried.
Hoping that he could tell her what happened at the bank, she made her way to Carl's hospital room. A ten minute chat clarified her understanding of what had happened at the bank. It also led to a number of surprises.
The first surprise was that Carl had known all about her. He didn't know her name, only that she was the widow woman whose husband had been killed in the war. Carl had told her how Burl considered her to be a role model of a good woman and mother.
She remembered the shock she had felt upon learning Burl was planning on joining the Army. She wondered if he was planning on doing it to impress her with the fact that he could be just as good as Jimmy. She had immediately felt guilty wondering if her continued talk about Jimmy had made him feel inferior.
The reason Burl had given Carl for joining the Army had confused Kat. She couldn't imagine why he would consider himself expendable. There was no reason for him to think that way. He had so many people who depended upon him like she did. No man with that many friends was expendable.
The day had led to additional surprises. Burl's parents had asked her to stop by his house to mail his bills. She had taken the opportunity to wander around his house doing what women enjoy more than shopping - snooping. She stopped by his chair and looked at the stack of books on the coffee table. Burl was a people person. It had never dawned on her that he spent every evening alone.
It had taken her some time to locate the stack of bills on the kitchen counter. Among the bills, she had found an envelope with her name on it. She had stared at it knowing there was money inside. She had found her mysterious benefactor whose help had saved her from having to take 'dates.' She wondered if he knew to what lengths she had gone to earn a little extra money.
"It seems like things are going great for Laura," her husband said breaking her out of her thoughts.
Kat said, "She's happy."
"I'm glad," her husband said. "Where's Herbie and Carl?"
"Herbie is babysitting Junior and he took Carl with him," Kat answered. She had been married for a year and suddenly discovered she was pregnant. Her husband had been overjoyed. Herbie was the perfect big brother.
"What are George and Maggie doing?" he asked.
"They're just having an evening out," Kat answered.
It had been nice of them to come up with an excuse to get the kids out of the house. She had plans for that evening; plans that wouldn't work too well with youngsters around the house.
"Hmm, that means you and I are alone," he said.
Kat said, "I've got dinner in the oven."
"Lasagne?" he asked after sniffing the air thinking he recognized the scent.
"You bet," Kat answered.
"You're too good for me," he said.
Grinning, Kat replied, "You won't get any arguments out of me on that."
Her husband laughed. "I know better than to argue."
"If we're going to eat, I should probably get off the couch," Kat said.
He replied, "We can eat later. I'm enjoying sitting here with my arm around you too much."
"The sooner we eat, the sooner we can celebrate our anniversary," Kat said.
They had been married for seven years. To say that their marriage had taken everyone by surprise wouldn't be an understatement. The day after Emma's funeral, she had proposed to him and he had accepted thinking it was a joke. She wasn't joking and the next thing he knew he was married. She didn't regret it for a minute.
"How would you like to celebrate it?" he asked as if he didn't know.
He had given her a nice silver pendant that morning. She had promised to wear it and nothing else that night. He was looking forward to her keeping her promise.
"Dinner and dancing."
"Dinner and dancing?"
"I was thinking we might do a little horizontal tango in the bedroom after a romantic dinner," Kat replied in a sultry voice.
She opened her bathrobe showing that she was wearing nothing except the silver pendant. Rather than hanging around her neck, the pendant was suspended from a thin silver chain that went around her waist. The heart shaped pendant pointed to the promised land.
Her husband rose from the couch. Turning to face her, he held out a hand to help her up. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"
Taking his hand, Kat rose gracefully from the chair. She cupped his face with her hands. Smiling softly, she said, "I love you, Burl."
This story is dedicated to all of the Burls of this world. We all know one. The less than attractive person with a heart the size of the whole outdoors. It might be the woman who brings cookies to the office for every holiday and remembers our birthdays with little gifts that don't cost much, but remind us that others appreciate our existence. It might be the guy down the street who always has the right tool and the time to help us to make a necessary repair around the house.
There are a lot of Burls in this world. We know them and come to depend upon their generosity, but do we really appreciate them as a person? Do we look beyond the friendly facade to see the loneliness in their soul? What does it take for us to realize just how important the Burls are to us? Do they have to lie on death's door before we notice them and give thought to what our life would be without them? It seems that way sometimes.