A Life’s Reconciliation
It’s well past midnight when the Card Carrier enters the hospital room.
The daughter is sleeping in the uncomfortable, faux leather corner chair, her mouth open, softly snoring.
She wakes as the Card Carrier opens the door.
Her father, a very old man, is lying in the hospital bed, connected to machines through a spider web of wires. He is breathing heavily and haltingly; some who are familiar with death would say his breathing is a death rattle.
The daughter is not sure at first of the identity of the Card Carrier. Perhaps it is a new doctor? No, doctors don’t visit this time of night. Perhaps it is a different nurse with new medication..? No, it isn’t a nurse. She comes to the sad conclusion that it is the Card Carrier.
“You have brought the Card?” she questions softly.
“Yes, I have your father’s Card. He will be ready to see it very soon now.”
So this is it, she thinks to herself. In a short while now, my father will be gone.
The Card Carrier holds a shiny envelope and inside it is her father’s Card. The funny thing about Cards — everyone knows and yet no one knows the contents of their Card. At every Card reading, there are surprise moments and “ah, yes, well that makes sense” moments. The daughter is both certain and uncertain about what will be on the Card. Just like all families during this time, certain and uncertain.
The Card Carrier walks to her father’s bedside and waves the envelope in front of her father’s closed eyes. His eyes flitter open and for a moment the death rattle subsides.
“Hello, sir,” he says to the father.
The father becomes aware of the Card Carrier’s presence.
“You may have already guessed I am the Card Carrier. I bring to you this night the contents of your Card. The Card that was drawn upon your birth those many years ago and has been written over the span of your life. Only those at death’s door can know the contents of their Card.”
Her father doesn’t make any sound, but continues to listen.
“I am here to deliver the reconciliation of your life. Your weaknesses, your strengths, and of course your Biggest Mistake.”
After a brief pause, the Card Carrier continues “You have little time left in this world. Are you ready to hear the contents of your Card?”
The father manages to utter a croaky “yes”.
The Card Carrier opens the envelope and pulls out a small strip of paper. How could anyone’s life reconciliation be printed on such a small sheet of paper? The daughter absentmindedly wonders.
“I will begin reading now. As you know, there can be no interruptions once I begin. Questions are not allowed.”
The Card Carrier begins a reading from birth up until the present. There are happy times, sad times, and a lot of times that hold little importance to anyone other than the father. There are things mentioned in the reading which should never be known by daughters, or wives, or doctors. And yet, the Card Carrier continues to read. Tears roll down the daughter’s face as she clutches the heart-shaped locket around her neck, the one her father gave to her on her 21st birthday. The reading is uncomfortable for both father and daughter, but it is what must be done. All persons must have a reading of their Card prior to their death.
The reading goes on for hours. Near the end of the reading, the sun has risen, and the Card Carrier arrives at the most significant part — the Biggest Mistake.
There is a slight pause in the reading and a wry smile appears on the face of the Card Carrier. “Well, he says, “we have now reached the end where I reveal to you your Biggest Mistake. Are you ready to hear that information?”
Again, the father croaks out an unsteady “yes”. The father has all sorts of ideas as to what the Biggest Mistake might be, as does the daughter. But they both wait rather anxiously to hear the official word from the Card Carrier. After all, the Biggest Mistake determines a final resting place, based on why the Biggest Mistake happened.
“Your biggest mistake appears to be…” He pauses, perhaps for dramatic effect. The daughter is now sitting on the edge of the chair, waiting for the reveal. She hopes the Biggest Mistake is something that she can learn from, something that she will not repeat. After all, that’s the real purpose of the Card reading — to help family members avoid mistakes made by others.
The Card Carrier stares at the old man in the hospital bed, his life in its very last moments. The man in the hospital bed is near death, but this is the moment the Card Carrier is most alive. His entire life’s purpose is in this moment, when he is allowed to reveal a person’s Biggest Mistake.
The Card Carrier glances down at the card and reads. “In June of 1962, you failed to return a library book to the downtown Molene library. Unfortunately, that failure caused a ripple effect which prevented a child named Henry Todd from reading the book you failed to return. And that prevented Henry from becoming the physician who could have healed you now.”
The Card Carrier pauses.
The daughter yells loudly “That’s it!?” A whole life and all you can report in terms of a biggest mistake is a…an…overdue library book?!”
“I remind you — the Card is a reading of a life, a reconciliation, and an acknowledgement of the things you knew all along, but chose to do nothing about. This is your father’s reading. And his Biggest Mistake was the failure to return that library book.”
The daughter begins speaking in disagreement but the Card Carrier interrupts her.
“As I said before, no questions are allowed. His final resting place has been determined. Unfortunately, it is not the one that most would choose.”
“This concludes the reading of your father’s Card.”
The father’s eyes close and his head tilts on the pillow. He is gone.
The Card Carrier leaves the hospital room as the morning sun shines through the hospital window. The nurses rush in as the machines begin screaming that their patient no longer has a heartbeat.
The daughter is pushed aside as the nurses make their best effort to save the father, but they know it’s futile.
Amid all the rushing and effort to save the father that’s already gone, the daughter makes a mental note to herself.
She needs to return that stack of library books.
