A Change in Plans
Copyright© 2006 by Asa Strong
Chapter 1: In the End and In the Beginning
Sometimes in the darkest times in your life, amazing, unseen avenues of change present themselves. This narrative is a testimony that this is true—at least for me.
My name is George Rice, and I am somewhat of an impersonal man. I don’t show much on the surface, even though I may be troubled inside. I have never been much for trivial conversation but loved nothing better than good conversation with people I trusted and that I knew had the mental capacity to truly think about the world we lived in. Unfortunately, these individuals were few and far between. It took an excellent mind in a person for me to take notice.
As a young child, I was a prodigy. Science and mathematics came easily to me. I was also somewhat of a loner growing up, but not because I was labeled a “geek,” for that term had yet to be invented or used during my time as a child. My isolation was that of my own choosing. At an early age, I discovered that those of my age group did not have the mental wherewithal to keep my interest. Those who were older, those who could match my intellect, thought of me as being strange and generally shied away from any close contact with me. Consequently, I grew up alone, not developing the emotional maturity to understand the how and why of it all.
I floundered through elementary and high school without any great distinction. The subject matter was easy to understand, and I was rather bored with the whole process and just chose not to participate. My early love was reading, and with a mind like I had, I was like a sponge absorbing everything I read. I loved to read; the subject matter was immaterial; I read; I absorbed.
College was somewhat better; at least there were some challenges in my academic studies. Without much effort, I managed to graduate with dual degrees in chemistry and physics.
After college, I landed a job at a large, well-known chemical company. I worked as a staff chemist and spent the next 25 years of my life as an undistinguished mid-level chemist, without any great ambition to do little more than was necessary to compete with the “I’m going somewhere” set.
Taken all together, I was a rather drab person. I married, had two children, provided for my family, but did little else to distinguish me from my neighbors. From the outside looking in on my life, I really had not accomplished that much, particularly if one considered what my true mental capabilities were.
To truly understand what would become a momentous change in my life, you first must realize the truly abysmal depth my life had reached at its worst point. I was 60 years old with an incurable form of pancreatic cancer. If this was not enough to drag me down, I had lost my wife of 35 years six months previously. Though not a marriage of great depth of understanding or a deep undying love, it was more a relationship that thrived on being close and comfortable with one another. It was the anchor of the routine and normality that kept me focused on life.
This was the point where I decided there was nothing left for me to look forward to or have any way of achieving any measurable enjoyment in what remained of my life. I decided the best course for me and my two grown children would be for me to die in a way that could not be considered a suicide, lest the small insurance policy on my life would be voided.
From the time I was a child, I loved the outdoors, and being with nature was some of my greatest joys. Often, either alone or with my wife, I would spend hours, and sometimes days, hiking and camping. I decided that the best way for me to meet my demise would be for me to perish while staging an accident when I was walking on one of my favorite nature trails?
One of my favorite trails traversed a steep cliff overlooking a large river. The portion of the trail along the cliff side was composed of loose shale overcrop. It would be the perfect place for me to accidentally slip and fall 400 feet to the bottom. Surely this would accomplish the task.
Having made my decision, I carefully planned my own demise. I spent several days meeting with my few friends. I created the appearance that I was finally starting to come up from the deep depression that I had been showing over the past six months. I would casually mention to them that I felt good enough to take a nice, long hike to get my head back together. I also checked my will to ensure that my children would not have to carry the burden of providing for my funeral expenses.
My last will was written ten years previously and stipulated that as spouses, the other would inherit everything. In the case that both of us were deceased, the estate would be divided evenly between my son and daughter.
I felt confident that my children would not have to cover the expenses of my sudden death and would end up with what little I had saved in the bank as well as my house.