~*~The Fork ~*~

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness; she had been given three more months to live! She set about getting her things "in order" by contacting the curate and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects regarding her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted to be sung at the funeral service, what scriptures she would like read, and also showed him the outfit she desired to be buried in. Her favourite Bibloe, she insisted, was to be put also in her casket.

It seemed that all her wishes had been expressed and the curate was preparing to leave . But then the poor woman suddenly remembered something which she thought she should have mentioned earlier, seeing that it was very important to her. "There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "Yes, dear, what is that?" queried patiently the good priest. "Please, see that this is definitely seen to! It is so very important. I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand!"
The surprise was evidently etched on the good man's face; he didn't know what to say. Maybe the poor sick woman was becoming delirious or something! "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I am somewhat at a loss and puzzled by this request," he replied quietly in a half tone.

The woman smiles feebly and readily explained. "In all my years of attending church socials, charity dinners, and whatever, I always noticed that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say: "Keep your fork". I always looked forward to that, expecting something better to follow..., like velvety chocolate cake for instance, or deep-dish apple pie; something wonderful to my liking. That is why I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand! I want them to wonder: "Why that fork? Ridiculous is it not?" It is my intention to tell them by my gesture, seeing that I would not be able to speak: "Keep your fork...the best is yet to come".

The curate's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman knowing it was the time he was seeing and talking to her. He realized that the dying woman had a better grasp of what she expected after her life on earth was spent, maybe even more than he himself did. She KNEW that something better was definitely the follow-up; heaven was there for her.

As mourners filed silently by the open casket, they could not but admire the chik dress she was dressed in. They did notice knowingly her favorite Bible; but then that fork gripped in her right hand..., was that not strange to say the least? Over and over the same curious query was put to the smiling priest: "What has that fork to do there in her hand?" He just smiled back with a kind of mischief in his eyes! And over and over he just smiled without giving any explanation. It was only during his homily that the curate narrated to the whole congregation the conversation he had had with the sick woman and therefore also her symbolic message with the fork! He tantalisingly pointed out that most they probably would be thinking quite often about the good woman's fork; he said that was happening to him too!

The next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come. ...................

Author Unknown