The Proving by Beverly Lewis

Author:Beverly Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Fiction;FIC053000;FIC042000;FIC026000;Amish—Fiction;Christian fiction
ISBN: 9781493411856
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-07-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

22

On the way back toward Gordonville, Mandy stopped at the Amish cemetery where her parents were buried. Up till now, she hadn’t felt ready to see their gravesites side by side, but after the visit with Dat’s parents, she knew it was time.

Getting out of the car, she picked her way over the encrusted snow to the fenced-in graveyard, where she opened the wide gate she and her family had filed through numerous times. There, she studied the neat rows of graves, some of the older markers more gray now than pure white when accented by the snow.

She walked reverently past her mother’s parents’ graves—Dawdi Benjamin and Mammi Sarah Hostetler—and several great-uncles’ and aunts’, too, before coming upon her father’s small white grave marker, unadorned as was customary.

Mandy stepped to the side, respecting the snowy ground where his coffin lay. For the longest time, she stood there, aware of a quiet so profound it was broken only by her own breaths. “Would Dat have intervened ’tween Arie and me?” she whispered into the frosty air.

Warm tears ran down her cheeks, stinging her cold face. If he’d lived, would I be married to Josiah? she permitted herself to ponder, then realized that the answer to that no longer mattered.

After a while, she folded her gloved hands and focused on the unmarked plot next to her father’s. It would be some time before the gravestone would be set in place. Mandy bowed her head, wishing again she had been present for the funeral and burial service. She uttered not a word as she silently thanked God for giving her such a hardworking and faithful mother.

A breeze stirred the stark tree branches, and Mandy shivered as the cold seeped through her coat and scarf, the wind turning sharp since this morning. Her nose and face began to feel numb.

At least Mamma was able to witness Arie’s wedding. . . .

The thought still hurt.

With a sigh, Mandy turned to walk back toward her car parked at the bottom of the hill.

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