Fifteen years passed and Tanner finished school and college. His younger sister married and had two children, but Tanner became an attorney and remained single. He dated occasionally, but for one reason or another never wound up in a serious relationship.
“It’s time you find yourself a wife, Brother,” Erin joked once in a while.
But Tanner would only shake his head. He was more serious than his sister and did not easily make close connections with people. Though girls had always been interested, none of them had captured Tanner’s heart.
The summer he turned thirty, he decided to vacation alone at the same spot in the south of France where his family had stayed fifteen years earlier. The anniversary of the day he had rescued the little girls was approaching, and for some reason he felt compelled to spend it on the same beach.
“I don’t know what it is,” he told Erin. “I feel drawn to that place.”
“Something to do with saving those kids?” Erin asked.
Tanner shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just something I can’t get out of my mind. I have to go back there.”
Once there, Tanner stayed at the same hotel and passed the hours thinking about his future. For several days he walked the beach and swam the surf. He made little conversation with anyone and after nearly a week he felt well-rested and ready to return to his life.
Sunday arrived—the fifteen-year anniversary of his miraculous rescue. Late that afternoon Tanner walked down the beach and sat near a tree just up the shore from the spot where the girls had first gotten pulled out to sea. Suddenly he heard someone coming up beside him. He turned and saw a beautiful young woman. Her hair was pale blond and something about her light-blue eyes was hauntingly familiar. He waited until she was beside him before nodding to her. “Hi.”
“You’re Tanner Woods,” she said softly.
Tanner’s eyes widened and he stood up, slowly moving toward the woman. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Have we met?”
The woman smiled shyly and looked away. “Not formally.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “My name is Heidi Schilling, daughter of Peter Schilling.”
Instantly Tanner understood. “You were in the boat … the day I rescued you!”
Heidi nodded. “I was four years old; my sister was seven. We had just set out for a ride in the waves when the current took us out to sea.”
“And before anyone knew what was happening,” Tanner continued, “you two were in big trouble.”
The young woman was quiet a moment, her blue eyes glistening from the reflection of the surf. “All my life I’ve wanted to meet you, to thank you for what you did that day. I know you risked your life to save us.”
Tanner couldn’t believe it. How incredible that they’d meet after so many years. “So you’re nineteen?”
Heidi nodded, a smile playing on her lips.
“How did you know it was me?”
“Townspeople talk. It’s a small place and they never stopped telling the story about how Phillip Schilling’s daughters were rescued by an American. When you returned, several people remembered you. I was hoping to find you here … since this is the anniversary of that day. When I saw you, and saw that you were American, I took a chance.”
Tanner nodded. Her story made sense. He had told some of the people at the resort who he was, and a few of them who had worked there that summer fifteen years ago still remembered the incident. There were only five hundred people in the seaside town, so it was very possible that Heidi would hear about his presence.
Heidi was beautiful, but at that moment, her expression grew sad and distant. “I want to apologize,” Heidi said. “For my father. He is a very stern man, stuck in his ways. Sometimes I wonder if he even really cared that you rescued us that day. I know he never thanked you, and all my life I’ve wanted to do something about that.”
Tanner smiled. “Now you have.”
Strange feelings were beating at Tanner’s heart. Somehow being with this woman made him feel that he’d known her all these years. She was young, no doubt. Just a teenager. But she seemed a decade older. “Could you have dinner?” he asked her.
She grinned, and a hint of red tinged her cheeks. “I’d love to.”
The two spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the lives they had lived for the past fifteen years. After dinner they returned to the beach and strolled along the shore, side by side. Tanner learned that Heidi was a very lonely young woman. Her father had never treated her like his other daughter. He had always accused Heidi’s mother of getting involved with an American tourist, and he’d decided Heidi was the foreigner’s daughter, not his. It was for that reason he hated all Americans.
“That’s why he never thanked you.” Heidi hung her head for a moment, her hands at her side. “Sometimes I think he wanted me to die that day.”
“Heidi, that’s awful.” Tanner reached for her fingers and took them loosely in his own.
In the years since, Heidi’s mother had died, and her sister had married and moved away. Tanner felt his heart going out to the young woman beside him. By the time the evening was finished, Tanner had the strangest sense that he would someday marry Heidi. He made plans to see her the next day and the next. He stayed long beyond the time he’d allotted for his vacation. By the time several months had passed, he shared his feelings with her.
“I know you’re young,” he told her, taking her hands in his own. “But marry me. Leave this lonely place and come back with me to the States.”
Tears filled Heidi’s eyes and she made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Are you serious?”
“As serious as I was that day when I rescued you.”
That evening they shared the news with Heidi’s father. He had no comment other than, “Be gone, then.” He waved her off with a brush of his hand. “But if you marry the American, don’t bother coming back here ever again.”
Heidi was sad but not surprised by her father’s response. Later that week she and Tanner left for the United States.
Tanner’s family could hardly believe what had happened. Tanner had left for vacation a confirmed bachelor and returned two weeks later engaged to a beautiful young woman. But when they learned that she was one of the children Tanner had rescued that summer at the beach, they were stunned. And delighted.
Tanner and Heidi married and in the next few years had a little girl, Amy, who had golden hair and sea-blue eyes like her mother. People who knew the couple often talked about the love they shared, marveling at the way they seemed almost a part of each other.
“Don’t you ever fight with each other or have a bad day?” Erin asked Tanner once.
Tanner shook his head. “I was thirty when I met her, but God picked her for me when I was just a teenager,” he said. “I guess I’m just making up for lost time. I love her and Amy like no one in my life, Erin. Sometimes I think it’s part of what we prayed for that day on the beach.”
Erin’s voice grew quiet. “I never thought of it that way …”
“I mean, who would’ve thought? All those years ago I was saving that girl to one day be the love of my life. Back then I knew it was an answer to a prayer that we survived. But now I see it was more than that. It was a miracle, Erin. Nothing short of a miracle.”
Save a Place for Me …
At age sixteen, Julie Keller wanted nothing more than for her twin brother, Jared, to live another year. One more Christmas, one more spring. One more summer when they could stay up late and play cards, teasing each other about the school year ahead. But that hot August night she found herself in a hospital waiting room begging God for something much more specific.
One more day.
Jared had been born with cystic fibrosis, a debilitating lung disease. It wasn’t a question of whether the illness would take Jared’s life. It was just a question of when. “If we’re lucky, he’ll live to his mid-twenties,” doctors had told the Keller family.
And Julie’s parents agreed. They had lived a life
separate from faith and their son’s illness only underlined their belief: “God isn’t real, prayer doesn’t work, and miracles don’t happen,” their father would say on occasion. “It’s that simple.”
But Julie and Jared didn’t agree. When they were thirteen, they’d been invited to a Young Life camp with some friends from school. There, they gave their lives to God and together they’d found rides to church every week since. As long as Jared was well enough to attend, anyway. And when he couldn’t she’d stay by his side. They’d talk about church and about school and all that went on there.
“Keep praying for me, Julie,” Jared would say. “I’ll be back.”
“I won’t stop.” Julie would hide her tears and smile.
“Save a spot at the lunch table, okay?”
“Okay.”
It was a conversation they’d had many times.
In the past month, Jared had seemed to be doing better than ever. He and Julie went to the Young Life camp again, this time as counselors. Their friendship had never been closer than it was those long days, swimming and taking part in a handful of activities day after day.
But the day after they returned home, Jared began coughing. A person with cystic fibrosis lives with the constant threat of pneumonia. By the next day, it was clear that’s what Jared had, and their parents rushed him to the hospital. Over the years, Jared had suffered with pneumonia more times than Julie could remember. But this time was the worst any of them could remember. Immediately doctors began antibiotics and placed Jared on oxygen.
That had been two days ago. Now, doctors had just met with the Keller family and told them the situation.
“I can’t promise anything,” the doctor had told them. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t look like he’s going to make it this time.”
Their parents held on to each other and wept when the doctors left the room. With all her heart, Julie wanted to tell them to pray, to beg God for a miracle. But she’d tried that before and every time her parents shut her down. “We don’t believe,” they’d tell her. “Don’t push your faith on us.”
So Julie watched them without saying a word. Finally her mother turned to her, her eyes still wet with tears. “We’re going to the cafeteria for some coffee. Wanna come?”
“No … I’ll wait here.” Julie managed a weak smile. “In case Jared needs me.” The moment they were gone, Julie exhaled long and slow.
God, she prayed silently, don’t let my brother die. The two of us share everything. That had been true ever since they were small children, but especially once they entered high school. Julie was a cheerleader, popular and outgoing, with dozens of friends. Jared was quieter, slender and weak from his illness. But because of Julie, he was constantly showered with attention. By the end of the previous year, he’d been named Most Fun To Be With in their sophomore class.
“It’s so cool,” one of Julie’s friends had said the week before at youth camp, “how you and your brother are best friends. I wish I had something like that with my brother.”
Now, after the greatest week together in their lives, it looked like she might lose Jared. The thought tore at Julie’s heart and made it hard for her to breathe. She hung her head and let the tears come.
The minutes passed slowly and all Julie wanted was to leave the waiting room and find Jared. Maybe if he heard her voice, felt her hand on top of his … Maybe then he’d find the strength to hang on, even one more day. But the doctor had asked them to stay away for now. He needed his rest if he was going to make progress against the fast-moving pneumonia.
“Lord,” Julie whispered. “Please help my brother. I love him so much, and I know he’s scared right now. Please help him breathe. Make the pneumonia go away.”
At that instant, Julie heard someone enter the room through the open door. She looked up and saw a small man dressed in janitorial clothing pulling a mop and water bucket on wheels. Something about the man’s face seemed unnaturally kind, almost glowing. Julie stared at him curiously. His uniform was rumpled, and he was slightly stooped over.
“I have something to tell you,” the man said. His voice was so soft, Julie had to slide forward on the vinyl hospital sofa to hear him.
“What did you say?”
“There’s something you need to know.” The man smiled and again Julie felt warmed by his presence. Did she know him from somewhere? Church, maybe? He took a step closer, his eyes locked on hers. “It’s a message from God.”
Julie’s hands trembled and her mind raced. A message from God? Who was the man and where had he come from? She leaned forward so she could hear him better. Normally she was afraid of strangers, but not this time. The man seemed like someone she’d known all her life. She waited as the man took one more step toward her. His smile was gentle and it calmed her anxious heart.
“Your brother’s going to be okay.” The man winked at her. “Remember the words from Malachi 4:2.”
A dozen questions flashed in Julie’s head, but before she could ask one of them, the man turned and left, pulling his mop and water bucket out of the room.
“Wait!” Julie jumped up and raced toward the door. She stepped into the hallway expecting to see the man a few feet away, but he was gone. None of the other doors in the hallway were open. The nurses’ station was ten yards down the hallway, but Julie could see only a single nurse standing behind the counter. Julie’s heartbeat doubled and her mouth hung open. How had he gotten away so fast? And who was he, anyway? No one could move that quickly, especially pulling a bucket of water.
Julie waited a moment, looking up and down the hallway in both directions, hoping to see him dart out from one of the other rooms. But after a while she turned around and moved slowly back to her seat. How had the man known about Jared? Could he possibly have known that she was waiting for news about whether her brother would live through the night? And what about his message. Malachi 4:2? Julie didn’t have her Bible with her, so there was no way to know what the verse said.
After almost a minute, Julie stood up again and headed for the nurses’ desk. There was no way she could let the man get away without talking to him, asking him the questions that plagued her. As she walked toward the lone nurse behind the counter, she steadied her voice. This was no time for tears.
“I need to speak with one of your hospital janitors, please.” Julie hesitated. “He was small, about this tall.” She used her hand to show how high the man had stood. “He stopped by the waiting room here a few minutes ago. I’m not sure where he is right now, but I need to talk to him. Could you page him?”
“Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right.” The nurse pulled a stapled set of pages from a nearby drawer and scanned it slowly. “That’s what I thought.” She looked up at Julie, her tone puzzled.
“What?”
“The janitors …” She looked briefly at the paper once more. “They’ve all gone home. They left three hours ago.”
“No.” Julie shook her head. “There must be someone else, another janitor or something. The one I talked to walked right into that room.” She pointed toward the waiting room. “I just talked to him three minutes ago. He’s somewhere down that hallway.”
“Well, all I can tell you, honey, is he doesn’t work at this hospital. Our janitors went home. They’re all off the clock. Besides, I don’t think we have a janitor that fits the description you gave me.”
Julie took a step back and turned around. With slow movements, she made her way back down the hall to the waiting room and her place on the vinyl sofa. There she dropped her head in her hands and prayed again. God, was that for me? That man … his message? She exhaled hard and noticed that her hands were shaking. If he wasn’t a janitor for the hospital, who was he? And how had he known about Jared? The questions ricocheted in Julie’s soul until she heard someone entering the room again.
She looked up expecting to see her parents, but this time it was Jared’s doctor.
“Are your parents around?”
Julie nodded, struggling
to find her voice. “They’re down in the cafeteria. They’ll be right back.” She was afraid to ask the next question. “How’s Jared?”
A smile worked its way across the doctor’s face. “Well, I guess I can tell you.” The doctor shrugged. “It’s nothing short of a miracle. Jared wasn’t breathing well at all. In fact, ten minutes ago we thought we were losing him. Then he began coughing and in a few minutes he was breathing normally again. We took an X ray, and … I can’t explain it. His lungs are dramatically better. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You mean, he’s okay?” Fresh tears filled Julie’s eyes.
The doctor’s smile faded some. “He’s sick, you know that. There’s nothing any of us can do about his cystic fibrosis. But he’s out of danger. At least for now.”
When Julie’s parents returned, she shared the good news with them. The joy on their faces was instant and it tugged at Julie’s heart. A prayer worked its way silently across her soul. Thank you, God. You’re so good to give us a little more time.
Then Julie looked from her mother to her father and back again. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course, dear.” Her mother came up alongside her and touched her shoulder.
“I think I saw an angel.”
Her mother withdrew her hand and twisted her brow. “An angel? Why, Julie, whatever would make you say that?”
Julie took a deep breath and told them the story about the janitor and his message. For the first time since she and Jared had started believing in God, her parents actually listened. But it wasn’t until she got home and checked her Bible that her parents’ attitude toward faith changed forever.
The verse talked about revering God’s name so that healing would come.
“Even the doctors said Jared’s turnaround was a miracle,” their mother said later that night. “Who are we to disagree?”
As for Julie, she never forgot how close she came to losing her brother that morning. After that, she always kept the verse about healing tucked away in her heart. She recited it again and again each time she found herself in that lonely hospital waiting room praying for her brother to have one more summer, one more season. One more day. She never had another visit from the mysterious messenger, but she remained convinced that the man had been an angel, sent to reassure her when she needed it most.