When I Look to the Sky (21 page)

Busy with classes, she also worked on the opening and closing for Butterfly Camp that summer. This would be her first time leading them
. She was nervous, and excited, putting it all together. She had some surprises in store. 

Matthew’s book was a success and began to open doors for new projects. It was an exciting time. Not only was he donating proceeds to the Camp, he was getting income, and notoriety. The media project for the Orchestra was a success, as well. When he came home for summer break one of the local TV news programs in Jacksonville had an interview scheduled with him to talk about the book, giving it even more exposure. The newsperson who contacted him for the interview was a breast cancer survivor. Promoting the book was something that meant a great deal to her.

Her term complete, Andy went to St. Augustine to help pack Carlee up to come home. She and Marissa had already made plans to be roommates the next school year, and knew they would chat over the break.

Matthew was flying
to Jacksonville and Geni invited Carlee to come there. She drove straight to the airport to meet him, and was waiting in the terminal when he came through. She didn’t ever want to let him go when he grabbed her.

They got to the house and settled in.
 His mom was happy to have him home, and loved Carlee being there. They spent the evening talking. The interview for TV was scheduled for the next morning. 

Carlee joined Matthew at the TV station. They highlighted the book, and talked about the Cancer Foundation
, as well as Butterfly Camp. She stood off camera to watch his ‘fifteen minutes of fame,’ proud to share it with him. LaDonna Martin introduced herself to Carlee when the interview was over, and told her what a treasure the book was.

That evening, Geni prepared a special meal, all of Matthew’s favorites; fried chicken, biscuits and potato salad. They talked, and Carlee shared some of her camp ideas with them. Matthew told them about the Orchestra media materials.   

Later, Matthew asked Carlee to take a walk with him along the river. It was almost a full moon, and the moonlight on the water was beautiful.
 
It looks like diamonds spilled onto black velvet
, she thought. She told him about her program for camp, her words filled with excitement. Matthew stopped walking as she rattled on about it. He was watching her, and she stopped talking.

“
What?” she asked laughing. “Am I talking too much?” 

“
Nope, not at all. I just love looking at you,” he said. “I love listening to you. I love your passion and excitement. I love being part of it, and I can’t wait to go there with you again.”

He took her hand in his
, loving the feel of it. “Carlee,” he started, and then paused.

“
Matthew,” she sighed in reply, and laughed.

He pulled her to him and whispered in her ear
, “Have I told you that I’m crazy about you?”

“
You have. Have I told you I feel the same way?” she whispered back kissing him.

“
You take my breath away.”

“
I do that?” she asked, teasingly, and then pushed back to look at him.

“
You do,” he replied, pulling her back. “And I have to tell you, I like the way it feels.”

“
Me too,” she said.

“I think about more than ‘now’ when I look at you.” He waited a minute before continuing. “I can’t wait for every tomorrow with you. What I feel for you is so real. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

 
She had tears in her eyes. Matthew wiped them away, pulling her closer. “Are you crying because you’re happy, or…”

 
“Happy tears,” she said, kissing him.

 
“When I read about your mama and Andy,” he continued, “the way they danced around commitment, that rollercoaster you referred to, I knew I couldn’t do that to you. I knew that forever was in our future when I left you at the airport to return home in March. I couldn’t imagine missing anyone more as you walked away.” He paused a moment, looking deep into her eyes. “I know it’s soon,” he began.

“
It’s been the best year I could imagine.”

“
Will you think about forever with me, Carlee?” he asked her.

She waited to answer, holding her breath, unsure where Matthew was going, and then finally
said, “Forever began for me a while ago.”

He reached in his pocket
, Carlee held her breath, as the tears flowed.

“
We won’t rush; we both need to finish school, but I’d like you to wear this, it’s my commitment to you.” He slipped the ring on her finger, and asked; “Will you spend forever with me?”

“
Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me!”

“
I can’t imagine a happier place in the world,” he told her.

C
arlee looked at the ring on her finger, it was an old, beautiful ring; an antique, she could tell, and she couldn’t believe what had just happened.               

“
I got it in London, just after you left. I looked all over the place and I went into this little shop in the neighborhood. They were having an estate sale. When I saw this one, I knew. It was different, like you.” He smiled at her and held her hand out to admire it, as well. The band was yellow gold. The setting was white gold, with dainty filigree. The diamond was set in the center, and there were sapphires on each side.

“
I’ve never met anyone like you before, Carlee. I read in the book that your mama was ‘unique.’ I think you got that from her. I talked to Mom and Dad,” he continued, “they love you, and they approve, but don’t want us to rush. I talked to Andy and he gave his blessing, so here we are. I just couldn’t imagine another day without you knowing exactly how I felt. I love you, I’m in love with you, and I want to make sure you know.”

“
Oh Matthew, I love you so much,” she said tears spilling from her eyes. They walked back to the house hand in hand and knew that they would spend the rest of their lives just that way.

When they reached, the house Geni was waiting, anxiously. As they made their way up the porch steps, Carlee could see her near the door. She opened the door slightly, and stuck only her hand through the opening, wiggling her fingers and laughed. Geni pulled the door open and hugged her. 

And then, she saw him sitting there.
 “Papa!”

“
Geni wouldn’t let me miss this moment. I’m so glad you said yes I sure would’ve hated to drive all the way here for nothing,” he said, and Carlee heard the smile in his voice.

They opened a bottle of champagne and made a toast.
“To the future,” Geni said.

“
To the future,” they all replied. 

Carlee watched
Andy. She knew where his thoughts were. She went to him and he wrapped her in his embrace.

Andy knew she was young, Carle would be twenty on her next birthday but he thought about the words Kimmy had used previously to describe her; “She’s an old soul,” and he knew that she had experienced more in life than most people in their thirties and forties.

He thought about Matthew and how their relationship started and progressed. It wasn
’t like most young people’s kinships. Theirs grew even with a great distance between them. They learned to love each other through their conversations. He talked to Geni and Tom, as well as Kimmy, and Nanny and Pops, and they all agreed that they shouldn’t be in a hurry, but that Carlee was mature enough to handle waiting. And then, he thought about Beth, “his Bethy”, and all the years that all she needed was a commitment – and he knew that he would never deny Carlee that.

The next morning, as they were all sitting at the kitchen table, Matthew received a call. He left the room to take it.

“
I’m sorry,” he said when he returned. “I just wanted to make sure I heard what they were saying correctly!”

“
What is it?” Tom asked, noting Matthew’s excitement. 

Matthew looked around the table, glad that Andy was there too. He had something special to share.
 “Carlee’s Butterfly Camp book, my photography,” he rambled. “They just called to tell me the book was submitted for consideration to the National Institute of Photography for an award for ‘Deep Perspective Photography.’ I can’t believe it!” he said.

“
How exciting!” Carlee yelled.

“
When do they announce the winner?” Andy asked.

“
In two weeks!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~ Mel

C
amp was quickly approaching. Andy was going again, taking his keyboard and he’d made arrangements with a local music store to have guitars sent for some lessons. He also had a surprise in store during the week. He told Carlee he needed another bed available, and she couldn’t imagine who would be joining them. 

Matthew came to Andy
’s two days before they left for camp to sneak in some time with Carlee. Andy was up and out early the first morning for an appointment at the studio. Matthew and Carlee swam and lay by the pool early in the day.

Later, t
hey went to The Bistro, picked up lunch and ran by the studio to show Matthew around and introduce him to Marco. Carlee opened the door and knew immediately that she should have called first. As soon as Andy looked up, she saw Zane in the sound booth. Andy saw the ‘oh crap’ look on Carlee’s face. Marco did too.

“
There’s my girl!” Marco said in his big, deep voice. He got up and wrapped Carlee in a hug. “Look how beautiful you are, and this must be the lucky guy I’ve been hearing about.” Marco extended his hand and shook Matthew’s.

Zane caught Carlee
’s eye. “Matthew, this is Zane Rogers,” she said. She hadn’t seen him since she called it off with him. Andy told her that he asked about her every time they met. It wasn’t a bad breakup, they didn’t date that long, but she wished he wasn’t there, not with Matthew there.

“
Nice to meet you both,” Matthew said.

“
Papa, we brought lunch, I should have called first, but I thought we’d surprise you!”
Surprise is on me,
she thought.              

“
I was just leaving,” Zane said. “Carlee, you look great.”

“
You too. Nice to see you. Papa, we’ll take lunch to your office.”

As she unpacked and put lunch on the table, she turned to Matthew to speak. He saw her hesitate and waited. She didn’t want to keep anything from him. “I dated Zane for about six weeks.”

“
I know,” Matthew said nonchalantly.              

“
You do?”              

“
Yeah, some girl in my business law class, who wants me, told me about you and him. She was trying to make me jealous,” he said, and they both busted out laughing. “I don’t care so much about all that stuff. That was before. All I care about is now, Carlee.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

Matthew
looked around the office as they waited for Andy and Marco to join them. There were pictures all over the walls, the Traveler guys, the band with other celebrities, and pictures of Carlee everywhere he looked. There were numerous gold and platinum records hanging on the walls, and he saw the Oscar and GRAMMY awards in a glass case in the corner. The pictures on Andy’s desk were of Beth, and various stages of Carlee’s life. The pride and love he felt for her was evident. He picked one up and was looking at it when Andy joined them.

“
Adoption Day,” Andy said draping an arm around Matthew’s shoulder as he was looking at the picture of him and Carlee. She looked up and smiled.

“
The second best day on my life,” he picked up the wedding picture of him and Beth. “This was the first best day.”

He sat it back down as Marco entered
and shouted, “Let’s eat, I’m starving!”

“
Nice Marco,” Carlee said, knowing he was making fun of her, and they all laughed.

“
Matthew, I look at her and I can never figure it out, but you need to know that she is always ‘starving’! I mean look at her, where does she put it?” Andy laughed.

“
Figured that out quickly,” Matthew laughed, and slipped his arm around her for a squeeze.

T
hat evening, Carlee and Matthew joined Jenna and Maxx for cosmic bowling and pizza at the bowling alley. The four of them had great fun together. Maxx and Jenna liked the opportunity to get to know Matthew.

The next day was hectic getting everything ready and packed for camp. Andy and Matthew grilled steaks for dinner. Later, the three of them shared the evening watching old Saturday Night Live episodes on a comedy channel on TV. SNL was one of Andy’s guilty pleasures. He and the Traveler guys hosted the show twice over the years. Carlee popped popcorn for them, and snuggled on the sofa with Matthew. He loved seeing that side of Andy as he laughed out loud over the comedy. 

And Andy loved seeing the two of them b
uild a relationship.

Friday after the embarking party, Carlee rode to camp on one of the busses with the kids. She couldn’t imagine not taking that ride on the bus with them. She loved that time. She was excited about the opening ceremonies, and nervous. She’d gone through it over and over with Matthew and Andy. Finally, it was time.

“
Greetings Caterpillars!” Carlee yelled from the stage once they were assembled and the chaos under control. She was wearing jean shorts and a bright lime green t-shirt with deep red letters that read; ‘DO YOU KNOW MEL?’ She looked out at the crowd, proudly. 

There were seventy kids this year.
 Over the last year they were able to build another cabin, so ten more kids were able to attend. She was so happy to see more of them there to experience this week of camaraderie.

“
This is the beginning! During this week we will transition, and at the end of our time together we will emerge as butterflies!”

“
Are you ready to get this party started?” she yelled to them as the classic music from the Black Eyed Peas song, “Let’s Get it Started,” began to play. When the song finished, volunteers brought three large boxes to the stage and Carlee tore into them with their help. They all started pulling more of the lime green DO YOU KNOW MEL shirts from one of the boxes and threw them to the crowd. On the back of the shirt was the butterfly logo for the camp.

She paused a moment and then asked,
“Do any of you know Mel?” None of the kids raised their hand. They looked around to see if ‘Mel’ was someone in the crowd. “Mel isn’t here,” she said. “At least I hope not, but I know Mel.” She paused a moment to take a deep breath to go on. “This year I decided to tell you about Mel.” 

“
Some of you have been here before, and you know that each year we are together, we talk about cancer. We talk about different cancers that we are familiar with. This year I am going to tell you about one that I know of personally.”

Andy watched her from the back of the room and thought his chest would burst with pride.
 Matthew was busy moving around taking pictures.

“
How many of you love to swim?” The kids all responded by cheering. “I know! Me too! How many love the beach? And boats? And jet skis? Playing ball, picnics and all that outdoor stuff?” With each question she paused as the kids responded with more cheering.

“
And you just hate when someone says, “Remember the sunscreen!” All you can think about is getting into the water, or playing, right?” she asked. “And then, right in the middle of your fun, someone makes you stop to come get more sunscreen? It’s annoying, right?”

The kids all replied with a loud
“Yes!”

“
When I was almost four, Mel came into my life. I was just a little girl and I had a mama that I loved very much. When she was young, she loved to go to the beach, only waaaaaay back then people didn’t use sunscreen so much, because they didn’t know what we know now. My mama loved to have a tan, and be in the water, just like you!”

“
But one day something bad happened. She found a mole, you know; one of those brown things, only hers was kind of ugly and it turned out to be a really bad thing. Mel…”

“
Mel is what I call Melanoma. It’s a type of skin cancer. For my mama, they didn’t catch it soon enough and Mel took her away from me. My mama is how Butterfly Camp became a place for all of us to come and share what we think and feel about cancer. It’s been almost fourteen years and I miss her every day.”

“
I had an idea a while back and I wrote a letter to Suntone Sun Products. I told them about my mama, and then I told them about all of you, and how much I love you. Not long after I wrote that letter, I had a phone call from a nice man named Tony Gamble. We talked for a long time. Later, he sent me this letter and asked me to read it to you. And when we got here these boxes were waiting for me!”

Hello Butterfly Campers,

What an awesome opportunity you have to share your experiences with each other.
 I was very happy to hear from Ms. Carlee. Her story made me think, I love my mom and I can’t imagine if I had lost her at such a young age as Carlee did. She told me about ‘Mel’ and shared her idea with me. 

I
’m happy to tell you that you are receiving the first batch of DO YOU KNOW MEL t-shirts ever printed! We are taking Carlee’s idea and making a series of public service announcements, TV commercials, to talk about sun protection. Carlee will be in these talking about ‘Mel.’ You will be seeing the first one that will begin airing on TV very soon. You all get to see it first! There will be more, but this one is ready to roll so we decided to share it with you.

I
’ve also sent two cases of sunscreen for you to use while you are at camp. I hope you have a great time, and remember; we don’t want any of you to know Mel. Take Cover! Cover your bodies with sunscreen again and again and again! Cover your head; cover up with a shirt when you can. Just take cover!

God Bless you all and your camp experience,

Tony

When she finished reading, the lights dimmed and the projection screen lowered and was filled with Carlee wearing the same lime green t-shirt. 

My name is Carlee. When I was four years old my mama met Mel and our lives were forever changed. Mel is Melanoma, a type of skin cancer. I hope that none of you ever have a Mel encounter. I’ve teamed with Suntone Sun Products to bring awareness to help you avoid Mel. Sunscreen is the best way to make sure Mel doesn’t come into your life. So no matter what you are doing, take cover! Apply sunscreen again and again… And for goodness sake, remember your top! The top of your feet, the top of your head and the top of your ears are exposed! We want the only ‘fry day’ in your week to be the one that comes after Thursday.

Afterward, the lights came back up and everyone started cheering and applauding. Matthew and Andy were on their feet whistling. One of the little boys started chanting ‘Carlee! Carlee! Carlee!’ And soon everyone joined in.

Carlee stood on the stage with tears rolling down her cheeks.
 “Stop!” she laughed, “You’re making me cry!”

After dinner, everyone was sitting around the campfires. The camp had four fire pits and they were all gathered around talking and laughing about their first day at camp. Carlee hadn’t stopped since the opening program so there hadn’t really been an opportunity to see Matthew or Andy since they arrived. Now was chill time, and she was sitting at the campfire with a group of kids. 

Andy walked to where Carlee was sitting.
 “Superstar!” he yelled, throwing his hands in the air, like the Molly Shannon character, Mary Katherine Gallagher, on Saturday Night Live. He slid into the space beside her, slipped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “Carlee, I’m so proud of you!” 

M
atthew sat down across the fire from them, watching, taking pictures of the gathering. He couldn’t determine if the glow on Carlee’s face was from the flames, or that inner glow that he loved. He always loved seeing the exchange between her and Andy. She looked up and saw him watching her. She turned to Kyle the little guy seated beside her, cupped her hands, and whispered in his ear. He rose and walked to where Matthew was sitting.

“
Miss Carlee told me to ask if you wanted to trade seats with her.”

“
No, but how about I trade seats with you?” Matthew teased.

“
She said you would say that,” he laughed.

He went and sat beside Carlee and gave Kyle two thumbs up.
 He reached for her hand and the kids all started a teasing, “Ooh!”

With Matthew on one side of her, and
Andy on the other, all in Carlee’s world was perfect, and she smiled…

They toasted marshmallows and laughed into the night. Finally some very tired campers made their way to the cabins for ‘lights out.’

Matthew waited until the kids were tucked away in their cabins.
 He found Carlee and asked if they could take a walk. It was the first real alone moment they were able to steal away, the whole day.

“
Is kissing against camp rules?” he asked.

“
It is,” she replied, grabbing his shirt pulling him to her, “for the kids!”

“
What an exciting day,” Matthew said. “What a great surprise!”