It was a pretty great love story.

OK, the movie was already well underway by the time I got there. The popcorn line was long, and it took me a long time to find the right person to go to the cinema with.

But it was easy enough to catch up with the plot. They were inseparable. She loved him, and he was totally devoted to her. They lived in a place where it always rained, and yet they endured the storms because they knew a rainbow would always be waiting on the other side.

He wasn’t perfect; he was a guy. It’s in the Guy Code that we have to screw up from time to time so the other guys don’t look bad in comparison. But you only had to be around them a minute to see he was totally devoted to her. She was his life. The years flew by.

And then, a big storm rolled in. He was understandably concerned the day she had to go in for the surgery. But the procedure went well. They came home. End of movie. But then.

Suddenly, she couldn’t talk. He could sense something was terribly wrong. I’m calling 911, he said. She refused. He called anyhow. Soon afterward, she was back in the hospital.

The phone rang at our place in the wee hours. It was him. I never heard him so upset. This had to be bad. It was a stroke, he said. They didn’t know how severe. And then.

She underwent another surgery. A miracle cure, a new procedure. Out of the hospital a couple of days later. All because of his quick action.

He saved her life, Amanda said. She must have said it 50 times over the next few days. He saved her life. He. Saved. Her. Life. He might have messed up a few times over the years (see previous part about the Guy Code), but when she needed him most, he was there.  They were going to be OK. End of movie. But then.

A few days later, he was sitting in his chair and went to sleep. He never woke up.

I suppose it could be a coincidence. But maybe, just maybe, he had done The Thing He Was Meant To Do. He had been there to save her life, and then his work was done.

I don’t understand life most of the time. Too much war, not enough compassion, raisins in oatmeal cookies. But I know a great movie when I see one. You want people to live forever, but of course they don’t. Going out as a hero seems as good an ending as any, even if the movie was shorter than we hoped for.

He loved her. He saved her. And then he had to leave. And that was the end of the movie.

It was a pretty great love story.

Life is funny …