The storm had raged for hours, and it stirred her more than anything had stirred her in decades.

She remembered him at times like this.  She remembered his smile, all those smiles over all those years.  She could see images of him in her mind at the various stages in their lives, some with that lovely blonde hair he had as a teen, sometimes with just enough gray at the temples to make him look distinguished, and sometimes with that brilliant white mane.

Their meeting on that ship so many years ago, fleeing from the wars that never seemed to want to stop ravaging Europe had linked them to the sea.  They never lost that link.

They had worked hard to buy their first sailboat, pathetic little thing.  Then they bought bigger and bigger until they had their own forty five footer.  What a beautiful thing she was.  Not like these half plastic things today.  She was all wood and over the years she was sure she had rubbed down every square inch of her.

Of course the silly man had slapped her name on the thing… the sweetest thing anyone could ever do… she was Yvonne.

The weekends they had spent on the water, the three of them sometimes just drifting not caring where they were, felt like time standing still just for them.  They would make love on her deck, fish, talk, or just lay there under the stars saying nothing.  She was pretty sure they had concieved their youngest child on her decks, while lightning could be seen miles away across the water.

She knew he wasn’t perfect but time had distilled her memories down to those best of times.  The times when he held her, all those smiles, and the last day he made love to her, the last time she said goodbye.

It was fitting that the sea had taken him, she had given them so much and she decided to take her due.  The storm was much like this one, sudden unexpected and furious.

Of course he wasn’t alone, he was with Yvonne, both of them.  She had stood on this same pier, watching this same way, praying for him to return, and knowing not even Yvonne could bring him through this.

Now she was sick, old, her body broken by time.  She gripped a family photo showing all the kids, grandkids, and great grandkids.  As tears ran down her face, she spread her arms wide to embrace the spray crashing over the pier, going home, and she was gone.