They were as old and worn as she remembered, and so she dragged a kitchen chair over to the closet and reached up on the shelf to retrieve the box that held the shoe polish and rags that were stained black and brown. She sat in the chair and put her hand inside the shoes, and she rubbed and buffed until they looked as good as new. She knew her dad was there with her, and felt his hands on her shoulders the instant she put her hand in his shoe. She didn’t want this time to end, but knew her mother needed her to return, and so when both shoes were finished, she put everything back in order and prepared to leave.

I guess God really does have a plan, and I don’t have to understand it or agree with it, she thought. She knew her dad was in that room and not really in the box sitting at Crook’s Funeral Home. Before she closed the door, she looked back and broke the silence, saying, “Good-bye, Dad. Don’t worry about me, and don’t worry about Mom, because I’ll always take care of her.”

That night, after all the visitors were gone, Mr. Crook opened the casket again, and Joanna and her mom watched while he slipped on the socks and shoes.

“I guess you got to give Dad a pair of shoes after all, honey,” her mom said as they reached their front door. But Joanna already knew that.

By the time Joanna was ready to go to college, she had grown into a beautiful young woman, with the dark coloring of her father, complemented by the soft features and blonde hair of her mother. She had dated a few high school guys but was a very serious student, as were the majority of the boys who also attended Stuyvesant High School. Almost all of the guys were science geeks, but Joanna was focused on literature, history, and the study of religions. Joanna was one of the first young women to be admitted to Stuyvesant, probably the most prestigious high school in New York City. The courses were very demanding, which suited Joanna’s temperament.

Her gift to see things and know things was, at times, unsettling. By now, however, it had become a part of her routine. Sometimes it was very beneficial. When she insisted her mother go to the doctor for a checkup, Joan followed her direction, because by now she had accepted the fact that Joanna had a sixth sense that was very powerful. The doctor said it was fortunate that she had come in for the checkup, because he caught her cancer early, and her doctors were able to successfully treat her.