Rainbow

Thursday 19 April noon

Lara has told me the story many times.

When her father, Howard, was dying, his wife, Connie, tried to get the children out of the house and create some quiet space for their father and stepfather to pass away peacefully at home. Connie stayed behind and so did Jeffrey, Lara's younger brother. The rest of the kids, some more reluctantly than others, went for a ride along the coast in the area. They made it to the San Francisco Zoo.

At a certain moment, on the way back, they saw a beautiful double rainbow and stopped to admire it. Exceptionally it sat over the ocean. Lara knew right then - and perhaps the others as well - that Howard had died. He had indeed, as they found out once back at the house. Later it turned out that their sister Christine, vacationing in Hawaii, had seen a rainbow at exactly the same time. Ever since, each time we saw a rainbow, Lara would exclaim: "Hi, Howard!", with true affection in her voice.

Twice over the past several days, looking out of her hospital window, against the afternoon sky, we saw a magnificent rainbow. Significantly, they were double ones! So, again, immediately our thoughts went to Lara's father (I never knew him myself, one of Lara's regrets in life). It is odd to say, but I had the distinct feeling that her dad was beckoning her to come over. As if he was telling his daughter: I am waiting for you on the other side, don't worry.