Paddling After Jake and Myrtle, Part 2

by John Thomas

READ PART 1

My dating relationship with Alfie had reached that place where the water current begins picking up speed and you realize the river will soon require a commitment from you that is going to make pulling over to the shore very, very difficult. You and your paddling partner both hear the waterfall in the distance and feel the cool mist on your face, but can’t quite bring yourselves to acknowledging it out loud.

Usually, this would be where I would look for a nice place on the shoreline to pull over and camp for a while. Or possibly just grab a life vest and jump. All I could see everywhere around me were wrecked canoes, or rowers yelling at one another, or worse — not talking at all, just sitting there, paddles in the boat, bumping into rocks, waiting for the crash.

But this time was different. Jake and Myrtle were up ahead, having made it through the class five rapids (defined by the International Whitewater Rating System as “extremely difficult; long violent rapids that must be scouted from shore; dangerous drops, unstable eddies, strong, irregular currents and hydraulics”). They were waiving me forward to the deep, calm pool of contentment.

“It’s a great adventure!” their lives said to me. “Strap on that life vest, hang on and paddle hard! Go for it!” That’s what I needed. They provided for me a vision of marriage, a good marriage that handled whatever life threw at them, and thrived — all the way through to the end.

I was there at the end, when Jake’s health was failing, and the sun was setting on this extraordinary couple, 62 years of two becoming one. I was there to see Myrtle try to paddle alone after so many years of rowing with her partner. One year after Jake passed, nearly to the day, Myrtle joined him, unable to mend her broken heart.

By then my wife and I were a few years into our marriage, doing our best to manage the unpredictable currents of young couple-hood, banging off rocks and getting stuck in low water and shooting thrilling rapids. Whenever our paddling was out of sync and the water would splash over the nose of the boat and douse our faces, I’d look up ahead, beyond the roaring whitewater, and see Jake and Myrtle, holding hands and cheering us on, assuring me that a little water in the boat is OK. Just bail it out, make adjustments and keep going.

Twelve years later, with each new bend in the river, Alfie and I keep learning to better navigate the waters and row in unison (which says more about her than me, because if I were paddling with me I’d want to turn around and whack me in the head with an oar).

Despite all our fears of the future and challenges of the present, we know we can do this, and here’s why: we have a picture in our minds of the end of the race, of looking back to our kids and grandkids and cheering them on, of leaving the same kind of legacy that was left for us. Our hope is that maybe some day when the tide rises and the river roars, some young couple will look downstream, past the churning currents, and see us waiving them on. You’ll recognize us. We’ll be the ones standing on the shoulders of Jake and Myrtle Shoemaker.

* * *

John Thomas lives in Arkansas with his wife, Alfie, and their three children. He serves as executive director of Ozark Camp and Conference Center, a youth camp and retreat center.

1. Candace said the following on August 18, 2010 at 8:57 am

   

   This is a really touching and encouraging story and reminds me so vividly of my own grandparents marriage of 64 years (minus the class 5 rapids and boats). They were models of Christ in their respective roles of husband and wife and the way they lived out their marriage in unity and to minister to others and certainly a role model for me in what I seek after in a marriage. They were not cute and romantic, per se, but had a deep love for one another. My grandfather went to be with the Lord last year, and I enjoy reflecting on how he strove to serve the Lord and be bold in all he did. My grandmother has been a model of strength as well even in her more feeble state and feels at complete peace with the fact that her mate is celebrating with his Creator and Savior in heaven.