Every day was the same for Janice and Ian.

They would wake up each morning at eight with the sun beaming in their eyes. Janice would get out of bed, slow as a slug, and shuffle her feet to the kitchen where she would boil water and make two cups of coffee. Sugar and cream for Ian. sweetener and milk for her. She would bring him his coffee, and they would sit in bed and just look at each other.

Janice appreciated the scar above his left eye and how his bright blue eyes would shine brighter than the bright blue sky and glimmer like the stars. Ian appreciated her smile, she had one tooth that slightly stuck out but Ian thought she was beautiful nonetheless.

They have a sweet kind of love, the kind where they cherished each other for their flaws. Janice knew she was in love, when she couldn’t fall asleep because the reality with him is better than her dreams. It is always difficult for her to not be with Ian. Whenever she wasn’t with him she felt lonesome and gloomy. It was definitely not easy being apart from each other but she had a job that she loved, and as it was only part time, she made herself go twice a week.

She is a speech pathologist; she traveled from school to school-helping children with speech impediments. One of the reasons she loved her job was because she was helping children.

She always wanted a big family but she wasn’t able to have children, which broke their hearts. This was a way for her to help children, and develop a relationship with them. They always wanted to adopt but something happened recently where Janice wasn’t ‘stable’ enough for a child.

Ian was a fireman, but after a close encounter with death Janice insisted he quit his job.

They didn’t have to work, as he inherited a large sum of money from his grandparents; enough for them to live their lives comfortably. He also inherited beautiful property where they built their house. They lived in a bungalow in Victoria, BC in a suburban area. Their house was small but cozy, with a white wrap-around porch, and large windows to enjoy the scenic views. Their land was quite large, almost 2 acres full of mature gorgeous trees and lovely wildlife.

Janice was sweet and loving, almost too loving. She loved people with all of her heart. She was capable of doing anything for the ones she loved, except stop loving them. Sadly Janice had to go to work today so she got dressed and kissed Ian goodbye.
She drove to the public school. It wasn’t a long drive but long enough that Janice could listen to six tracks of her Celine Dion CD.

Upon arriving at the school she signed into the office and headed to her room. She had a photograph of Ian on her desk and as she took a seat, she smiled at the picture and thought to herself how lucky she was to have him. She sat there in complete silence for several minutes.

Moments after a knock on her door, she jumped from the shock but said in a gentle voice, “Come in”. It was her youngest patient; Autumn.

Autumn was young and sweet and she had trouble pronouncing her R’s. Her session with Janice was always two hours, once a week. They would play games where Janice had her using her R’s and with each session came improvement; not a big amount but it was certainly noticeable.

Throughout the day she had three more sessions and she loved every moment of them, but what she loved even more was when it was time to go home to her husband.

She got into her car, put on her Celine Dion CD, and headed home.

Upon arrival at home, she saw a car in the driveway. It was one of Ian’s old co-workers. She walked up to his car and said, “Hey Scott, can I help you with anything? Ian’s inside I’m not sure what he is doing, but something childish like always”. She chuckled at the end of her sentence.

Scott felt awkward and said, “What are you talking about Janice?”

He paused with a very concerned and confused look on his face.

“Ian hasn’t been with you for a long time. He hasn’t been with any of us, I’m sorry.”

Janice began to get furious.

“Are you kidding me Scott? Not you too. Ian has been fine, he is perfectly fine and he is as lovely as ever! You can leave now because I’m sure Ian doesn’t want to see you.”

She ran into her house and locked the door. She started to sob and Ian came over to comfort her. He was rubbing her back and hugging her and asked, “Sweetie what’s wrong? Are you okay?” She responded while he wiped the tear under her eye “Scott was here and he said some silly and ridiculous things but I’m okay now that I’m with you.”

He smiled. So did she. They went to cuddle and watch T.V.

Scott went back to the station. He was very upset. “You guys were right.”

“Janice really can’t let go. She really believes that he’s still alive.” Scott was really confused. “I mean its hard to let go of someone but … but its been a year. His accident was terrible, it wasn’t fair, but he died saving peoples lives. He died a hero.”

The guys at the station knew how he felt. They had all gone through the same thing with Janice over the past few months. They would go to give their remorse and Janice thought they were playing a cruel trick on her. She thought that after the accident Ian survived and he quit the squad, but the truth is Ian never made it after the accident.

Janice didn’t attend the funeral because she said she spent the day with Ian in bed. Before Ian died, they were so close to adopting a child. After he passed away, Janice went to meet with the adoption agency. The agency suspected she had mental issues. She was talking to Ian during their meeting and the woman was in shock because no one was there except Janice and the interviewer. They decided Janice wasn’t stable enough for a child because she believed her deceased husband was alive.

They tried explaining to her that he died but she wouldn’t listen.

Every day, Janice goes about their normal routine as if he’s there.

That night, as Janice lay in bed alone, she envisioned that Ian was right beside her holding her hand.

She kissed him goodnight and said, “I love you.”

She fell asleep, with comfort in her heart, as she truly believed that he kissed her back and said, “I love you too Janice.”………