From Strawberries to Sunsets by Stephanie Nygaard

The buttery sun was melting down the wall and bathing the floor in liquid light. Susannah knew that if she didn’t move quickly, she would miss it. She grabbed the Bible that had belonged to her grandmother and ran out the door. Walking briskly past the strawberry patch, she saw a younger version of herself tending the berries with John.

“Hey, Strawberry Girl,” John said. “Look what I found in the bowl.”

Turning to face him, Susannah saw him kneeling on one knee, a tiny gold ring in one hand.

Her stained fingers flew to her mouth as tears came to her eyes.

“You’ve been in my life since we were both five-years-old. I can’t picture my life without you. How about it? Will you marry me and be my Strawberry Girl forever?”

“Of course,” she whispered. And he slipped that tiny gold band onto her finger and scooped her up in a hug.

That was before the war had ripped him from her life and left her heart stained black.

Now, she could hear his voice saying, “God will direct your steps, Strawberry Girl. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.” A single tear slipped down her cheek. She knew she had to keep moving.

Rose-tinged clouds bloomed in the sky as she willed her feet to move westward. She walked through the tall field grass waving in the evening wind and thought about her life in the months following John’s death.

It had been hard to think that she was living in a world that held strawberries and war in the same hand. One offered color and life. The other offered nothing but blackness and death. The strawberries had left her with stained fingers, and life had left her with a stained heart.

And then Robert came home.

Susannah made it to Dandelion Meadows where the grass was covered in a lace garment of wishes. She stopped to pluck a dandelion and blew away the fluff on the breeze. She wished with all her heart for one more chance at love.

But she knew she didn’t need wishes. She needed faith in God; the God that Robert helped her find again. Robert taught her that God was with her in her suffering. That God was holding her tight. He taught her how to hear God’s voice in birdsong, see his face in the sky, and feel his breath in the air. He showed her where to look in the Bible for God’s answers to her questions. And he taught her it was okay to laugh again.

Robert was Susannah’s longtime friend and John’s cousin. He had been back from the war for three months now. He returned with a hurt leg that left him with a limp. Susannah was amazed that with everything he witnessed and went through, including losing his cousin, Robert still had unflinching faith.

Moving on from Dandelion Meadows, Susannah passed the library and looked up. She could see the green feathers of the trees tickling the painted sky, and just past that, she could see Robert standing on the steps of the little white church. She hugged her Bible to her chest and picked up her pace until she was almost running. For a month now, she had been meeting Robert every evening on the steps of the church to watch the sunset and hear him recite Psalm 113 verse 3 from his King James Bible.

“From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.”

Susannah was so thankful that Robert helped her learn to praise the Lord again.

“You made it,” Robert smiled as Susannah joined him on the steps of the church.

“I would never miss it,” she said, smiling back.

“I have a different verse I’d like to read tonight.”

“Oh?” Susannah said, a little surprised.

“From Genesis chapter two. Are you ready for something different?”

“Sure”.

“Good,” Robert breathed. “Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

Susannah saw Robert get down on one knee, set his Bible down, and take out a ring from his pocket. Susannah’s hand flew to the necklace she wore that held the tiny gold ring from John.

“Susannah, I know that you were John’s Strawberry Girl, and I never want to replace him.” Robert took a deep breath. “I had a long talk with John this morning at the cemetery, and I know I have his blessing to ask this. Susannah, will you marry me and be my Sunset Girl forever?”

Susannah, fingering her necklace, could feel that she had John’s blessing, too. She had room in her heart for both strawberries and sunsets. “Yes,” she whispered with a smile.

Robert slipped his grandmother’s ring onto Susannah’s finger and embraced her in a hug. Then he whirled her around to face the west.

Together, they sat down on the church steps, looked up at the watercolor sky, and thought about the colors they would paint onto the canvas of life as husband and wife.

Stephanie Nygaard lives on (almost) seven acres of land in Central Illinois with her husband, Jim, and three daughters, whom she homeschools. The Bible, beauty, and books offer an endless supply of inspiration for her writing, which she hopes will point people to God. Stephanie can often be found with a book in one hand, a cup of tea in the other, and a journal in her lap. She firmly believes one can never have too many photos of the sunset. Stephanie shares her writing and other creative offerings on Black Barn Online and Instagram.