Eric
Saunderson and Marybeth Gravel had been college sweethearts. They were happy
together, but very young. Marybeth wanted nothing more to wear a white wedding
dress down a little church isle, and Eric was far from ready. Regardless of the
history and the sense of humor they shared their relationship ended. Marybeth
would have given anything to Eric, but he was unwilling to give her the one
thing she really wanted.
“Because your not expecting it. - m4w (sat in i)
If you make a will I want
your skull. Still..
Hope married life is all that you hoped it would be.”
To Eric
Tuesday, January 28 was like any other day, until he noticed a new event on his
social media feed, Marybeth’s bridal shower. They had not been together for over
two years, but news of her being with someone else was like a punch in the
stomach. In a lot of ways Eric always felt Marybeth belonged to him, and they
belonged to each other! If only she had waited for him to be ready.
At first
he opened up an email, and began to type. It was a desperate plea for her not to
marry her new fiancé! He typed a dramatic attempt to woo her and win her back,
but hours later he was still composing the same email. The wound was no longer
as fresh and logic prevailed. He knew Marybeth beyond all else kept her word.
If she agreed to marry whatever is name is, she was going to marry him. Still
compelled to throw something out in the universe he posted on craigslist an ad
that reminisced about the time they sat in a little bar that started with an I.
It was a special place for them. She had never promised her hand to him, but
she did promise her skull in a laughing joke over beer. She would know what
this meant for sure!
Marybeth never
saw the missed connection, and married in the summer of 2014. Marriage was not
everything she hoped it would be. Rarely do things in life meet our
expectation, but she made a promise to love, honor, cherish and that was what
she was going to do. In 2017 she drafted a will after the birth of her first
child.
Eventually
time eroded most of the details between Eric and Marybeth. Eric married, and
raised a family in the house he grew up in, changed careers several times, and
was optimistic about the future. When the doorbell rang he knew it must be the
package he ordered! The luggage he had purchased to surprise his wife with a
dream vacation along a cruise liner. He called his wife in and asked that she opened
the package, excited to see the look on her face when she realizes what she is
holding.
His wife
reached through the bubble wrap and felt something smooth. She had a feeling
she knew was Eric was planning, and hoped for the designer travel bag she had
been eying. Gently the item immerged from the package, it was a human skull! As
Eric tried to calm his screaming wife he looked around the package, sure there
was an error at the fulfillment center. Instead he found a letter from an
attorney at law. It was the skull of Marybeth Gravel, who died of cancer two
years back. Medical research teams agreed to take her body, but with one
stipulation, the skull was promised to him. Eric
couldn’t imagine what would cause Marybeth to leave her skull to him, or the
promise she made in jest. One thing was clear, she did make a will, and Eric
did not want her skull. Still..
