The Last Stop Before Heaven

By Dianne Alice Lyon

LOVE IS FOREVER

Have you ever met up with an old friend or relative that youve been out of touch with for several years? It seems as if you pick up just where you left off, without missing a beat, and that time of separation becomes shorter as if you were never apart.

That is what I would like to think of it being like when we do meet our lost loved ones again. Time stops and it will be as if we were never apart. What is time, but an idea we have in our minds?

Love is forever and because someone is out of our physical sight does not mean they are lost to us forever, we will always love them and they will always love us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469156835

Dianne Alice Lyon

Dianne Lyon was born in 1944 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. She grew up in Georgetown, Massachusetts. She was fortunate to be a member of a large and loving Italian family. Her father worked in one of the many shoe factories located in Haverhill at that time. Marrying and moving to the West Coast in 1977, Dianne began to explore the world of metaphysics. She attended many psychic classes and spiritual retreats, participating in Native American ceremonies, such as mask making, sweat lodges, smudging, and meditating with mandalas. In 1997, she appeared on the nationally syndicated show Strange Universe. The group was videotaped dancing in costumes they made while on a Wild Woman International retreat at Zaca Lake in Northern California. She also participated in the World Prophets Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, in the 1980s.

Book preview

The Last Stop

Before Heaven

Dianne Alice Lyon

Copyright © 2012 by Dianne Alice Lyon.

Cover illustration by Kate Perine.

Library of Congress Control   012901255

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Grandfather

A Prom Date

The Beach

The Stranger

A Wedding

The First Son

1942

A Big Brother

No Violence

Moe the Gripper

Simple Things

The Fire

A Warm Blanket

The Hero at the Pond

Rocco Goes into the Service

A Broken Heart

Another Boy

Rocco Takes a Wife

Angelo Meets the Girl of His Dreams

Rocco and Natalie Break Up

Plucked Like a Chicken

Rocco Meets an Angel

Rosa the Hero

Another One of Your Brothers?

A Family Tragedy

1993, Marina Passes

Louise the Nurse

Rocco and Arlene

The Last Stop before Heaven

We Pass It On

Photographs

About the Author

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my family for all their inspiration, support, and encouragement.

My husband, Tom, who has been my rock, and my children, Daniel, Angela, and Matthew. My brothers, sister, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

In memory of my brother, Peter, and his wife, Muriel, who showed us the devotion and blessings of being part of a family.

To the memory of my dear friend Cynthia, who loved with all her heart and soul and brought so much light into this world.

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Introduction

This is the compelling story of an Italian family raised in a small New England town. Within is an intimate look into the lives of two brothers, who, although years apart, were the best of friends. Their courage, love, and devotion to each other tell a story all its own.

You will laugh and cry as you recount their stories, truth or fiction—can you tell which? The story is shared to inspire hope and joy for the brokenhearted of this world, those who have lost their dear loved ones. Hope is love for ourselves and others, for we are all but one family.

Most of the names have been changed, and those you might recognize are meant to honor their special places in our families.

Various historic societies and libraries have generously provided photos of locations that the reader will enjoy throughout the book.

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The Last Stop before Heaven

1923, Haverhill, Massachusetts

It was a beautiful, bright spring day. The lilacs were in bloom, and the azaleas were heavy with fuchsia and white flowers. Marina and her mother had just entered the market to do their weekly grocery shopping when they saw a neighbor with her teenage son. He has a dark cloud around him, and he’s gonna fall very far, Marina said to her mother. Shhh, her mother said sternly. You must be thinking of a nursery rhyme you heard.

Marina had a way about her, her mother thought to herself, since the first time she recognized that she had a gift for knowing things. When she was just a child of ten, she knew about things that were, in her mother’s opinion, beyond a child’s understanding or knowledge.

Marina lowered her head. The tone in her mother’s voice told her she must be silent, so nothing else was said. Later that day, Marina related the incident to her sisters. They all agreed it was best not to talk about it with anyone outside of the family.

Then several days later on a Sunday morning, Marina got out of bed and came into the kitchen. Her mother and a few of her aunts sat around the kitchen table, talking in hushed tones. She couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but by the looks on their faces she knew something terrible had happened.

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Circa 1923, Haverhill, Massachusetts

Courtesy of the Trustees of the Haverhill Public Library, Special Collections Department

Go to your room, her mother said, and Marina obeyed without question. She knew something was wrong. Could she have done something to upset her mother? she wondered as she lay in her bed, looking up at the ceiling.

After what seemed like forever to Marina, her father came into her room and sat in the chair next to her bed. Why did you say that to your mother about Jeff falling?

I don’t know. It just came into my head, she replied.

Well, you must never say anything like that again. Jeff is dead. He was playing with some of his friends on the bridge. He climbed up, lost his balance, and fell very, very far down to his untimely death. Now do you understand what I’m saying to you? Never, never repeat it again! I want you to put those thoughts out of your head!

Marina was terrified and did exactly what he said, or so she thought.

The next few days were particularly painful. The same thoughts kept resurfacing while preparing for the funeral for Jeff. He was far too young to be taken away so suddenly. Marina felt tormented through the entire thing. She felt that she had somehow caused his death! When she looked at him as he lay in the coffin, he looked so young and so handsome. It didn’t seem so bad to her that he was dead. He seemed so at peace. Then as she sat there with her family, Marina found it rather difficult to look anywhere but at his body. Suddenly, she saw what seemed like his figure rising from the casket. But she could see right through him! At first she was startled. Then she saw a glowing white light surrounding him, and he was smiling. His skin looked luminous, and his face had a peaceful expression. He seemed to be waving at her. Of course, she did not dare share this with anyone else, lest her father or mother would admonish her, but she felt much better knowing he was happy where he was, and there was no doubt in her mind now.

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Grandfather

In the years that followed, she put those things completely out of her mind and grew into a beautiful young woman. She inherited her mother’s olive skin, stunning jet-black hair, and dark-brown eyes. She also had a voluptuous body.

There were many times while growing up when she saw or sensed auras and different colors around people, but she always kept these things to herself. They were stuffed down deep inside her mind.

The family was very close, as most Italian families are. Every Sunday they would get together after church and have a big dinner of raviolis and sauce, prepared lovingly by her mother. Marina would help her mother close the raviolis by pressing a fork down around the edges. Then they would line them up on the white flowered cloth that was draped over the long dining room table. It always felt so good when she helped make things.

Part of the Sunday ritual was to bring her grandfather over from the old folks’ home to visit for the day. It was sad to her that he could not live with them anymore. His failing health became too much for them to care for him themselves.

The home was only a few miles away, and he had more visitors than any of the other residents. They would look on jealously as his doting family would pick him up for the day. Love was something that flowed freely in her family, with lots of hugs and kisses, and I love you’s were just normal to them. They just loved being together. But Grandfather—he was the king of it all. He would sit there with them gathered around him while they listened raptly to his many stories. He was old and frail, but his eyes lit up and seemed to dance when he told his stories.

Marina loved to get out the old picture album during his visits. She was fascinated with all the pictures of the many family members who had passed. Her grandfather certainly had been a strikingly handsome man. She never met her grandmother, but she also was a beautiful woman. Being of northern Italian descent, she was very fair with long golden-blonde hair and blue eyes. That’s how grandfather described her. Even in the black-and-white photos of the two of them on their wedding day, the contrast was unmistakable.

They decided to go to the beach that day for a few hours to cool off. It was the first of July and very hot and humid. Their grandfather was so excited about the idea. So they all squeezed into two cars, and away they went, laughing and singing Italian songs all the way.

Then all too soon, the daylight waned. It was time to take grandfather home. He had a gleam in his eyes from such an enjoyable day with the family. It seemed as if he wasn’t tired at all after such a busy day.

Marina fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow that night. It was an especially wonderful yet tiring day. She dreamed there was a telephone ringing, and suddenly, she realized it wasn’t a dream at all. She awoke a second later to hear her mother say, Oh no! Then she started sobbing loudly.

Marina jumped out of bed. She knew something terrible must have happened. Her dad and four brothers all arrived in the kitchen at the same time. Marina’s mother was stooped over as if she had been hit in the stomach. Dad is gone, she said between gasping sobs. He’s gone. They all huddled together, sobbing and holding each other. This went on for what seemed like a lifetime. Then finally, her mother stood up erect, went over to the sink, and splashed water on her face. She turned to her family and said, He had a full life, and he loved and was loved. We must now celebrate his life and remember our happy times with him, for he is home now.

Celebrate! What is she saying? Marina thought. How can you celebrate when you’ve lost someone so dear? She never knew her mother could be so cold and callous.