A Diamond in the Rough

by Marilyn Land

  Their latest venture, Lyons MedAir was set to launch in late December.

  Jake received a call from Jonathon in September offering to host their annual family event of welcoming in the New Year in Houston. He did not tell him about the new venture; it was to be a surprise.

  “Joel and I will take care of planning everything Texas Style offering our very own brand of southern hospitality. And Grandpa we want you to see all the latest things that are happening at Lyons Aviation.

  “Are you in?”

  Jonathon couldn’t see the pleased smile that spread across Jake’s face. “Of course, I’m in. You had me at your offer of southern hospitality.”

  Every member of the Lyons family from the youngest to the eldest was clad in western gear including cowboy boots welcoming the arrival of 2015 in Houston, as fireworks lit up the sky.

  They returned from a warm Houston to a bitter cold and snowy London. Jake’s housecleaning efforts had become an exercise in getting his house in order for when he was no longer here. He labeled each item and who each item belonged to.

  He went through the box of pictures that Lexi kept and openly cried when he came across the pictures she had taken of Zoe as a baby in Palestine, the first three and a half years of her life. There were pictures of Harry and Adam as infants when it seemed only Lexi could tell them apart.

  The camera she had purchased in Jerusalem came in handy, and she kept it close at hand; she refused a new more up-to-date version until one of the grandchildren dropped it breaking it to pieces. When Zoe gifted her with a smart phone, she said she had no need for it; but upon learning it was also a camera, she accepted it without question.

  He put the box of pictures away. There was no need to label them. The family had gone through them at many family gatherings.

  He spoke to Zoe every day; she rang him up to check on him to assure herself that he was okay. She continued working on the novel, but Jake told her it was no longer necessary for her to seek his approval. In his mind, she was the only person qualified and up to the job.

  It wasn’t until March that the weather began to improve. He took the train to London and surprised her. At Jake’s request, they had dinner together at the Savoy. He spent the night leaving the next afternoon by train to the Cotswolds.

  With April came the first signs of spring; Jake awoke each morning to birds singing and colorful daffodils, jonquils, and tulips sprouting up from the ground infusing new life as they pushed the dead of winter away.

  He rose early, had breakfast, and after a second cup of coffee left for Eagle Aerodrome. It was the start of a beautiful day; he planned to get a little flying in and then he had a meeting in the Village. He had petitioned to have the Lyons Cottage designated as a historical site; he received word just yesterday that it had been approved.

  This time, he called in advance and the Cessna awaited him. No matter how many times he took flight, that same euphoric feeling came over him as the plane lifted off the ground and began its climb.

  His plan to request historic status for the cottage had come to pass. At first, when he presented his petition to the Village, he wasn’t sure if they would grant his wish, but they had. Now he could share his plan with the family.

  The children had long ago renamed it the Lyons Cottage and replaced the old Wentworth Cottage plaque as a gift to Jake and Lexi. When Lexi told him she wanted to be buried on the cottage grounds, he didn’t hesitate to comply, but in hindsight learned the only way to assure that the cottage would never be sold was to preserve it historically and ultimately deeding it to the Village.

  As the plane leveled off, Jake looked down below. It seemed a million times he had flown over the cottage, the Village, and the neighboring towns of the Cotswolds. He could see the Lyons Cottage perfectly; and he was flying low enough to see the flowers that grew more vibrant with color each day as the weather warmed.

  He could pinpoint exactly when the thought came to him to convert the Lyons Cottage into a historic site. He had been in the midst of housecleaning and packing items away, when the thought occurred to him that the items should be shared just as his story was going to be shared. He envisioned a site that would exhibit his life and work in diamonds and aeronautics, and exhibit Lexi’s life and work in the field of Nursing and research, including the time she spent in Palestine.

  He landed the plane, stopped in as always to see Adam, and returned to the cottage to shower and change before heading into the Village for his meeting.

  He felt invigorated having been so occupied the past few weeks.

  He invited the children to the cottage for drinks and appetizers and made a late dinner reservation in the Village. He began by asking Zoe, “How is the book coming along? Do you have a guestimate as to when it will be finished?”

  “It’s coming along just fine; as you know I’ve been editing each chapter as I write it so that when I’m finished, there will be very few changes to be made. I’m hoping that I will be wrapping it up by the end of the year at the latest.”

  “Good. Now fill your glasses and come sit down, and I will tell you what I’ve been up to.”

  He showed them the paper that granted historical site status to Lyons Cottage, and went on to explain what he had in mind.

  It was a nice enough evening to walk into the Village for dinner, and it gave them the opportunity to keep talking, and talk they did. They were very excited with Jake’s plans. The cottage had been their parents’ special place; it was their first home, and only Zoe had lived there. By the time Harry and Adam were born, they were living in the house in Pembridge Square.

  Zoe’s call to Jake the next day went unanswered. She tried his cell phone and it went right to voice mail. Throughout the morning she continued calling both phones to no avail. David suggested she ring up Adam to see if he possibly went flying and simply forgot his phone.

  Adam hadn’t seen him, but he said he would check. He left the office and went straight to the parking lot to his car. He was at the cottage in ten minutes. He tried the door, but it was locked. He lifted the knocker and rapped twice. There was no answer. He reached into the planter near the door and retrieved the key; opening the door, he called, “Dad, Dad are you here?”

  He found him in his bed looking as though he were asleep. Adam felt for a pulse; there was none.

  Once you have tasted flight

  You will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward

  For there you have been,

  and there you will always long to return.

  Leonardo Da Vinci

  He was laid to rest at Lyons Cottage beside his beloved Lexi on the third anniversary of her passing. As the Rabbi concluded the service, Zoe, Harry, and Adam stood hand-in-hand and repeated:

  True Love is like a Diamond—precious, rare, and lasting forever!

  Baruch Dayan ha’Emet—May they rest in Peace.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  One day, a child asked his father, “Why is it always the best people who die?” The father answered, “My child, if you are in a meadow, which flowers do you pick? The worst ones or the best?”

  It has been said that time heals all wounds, but to a fresh wound open and raw, time is but a distant future. Her Daddy was her Hero just as his Papa had been his. Her Mama’s stories about him, the love they shared, and their love for her instilled in Zoe, as a mere toddler, her love for her Daddy even before she knew him.

  Finishing her novel loomed large, but try as she may, she couldn’t attain a mindset to return to it. More than a month had passed, and Zoe showed no signs of ending her mourning. The full-page obituary of Sir Jacob Lyons in the London Times resulted in a multitude of correspondence from around the world offering praise for his extraordinary life’s journey and condolences to his family. Zoe did not read one; she continued to mourn.

  David and her brothers grew more concerned with
each passing day. This was not the wife and sister they knew—she was a realist, an optimist who faced things head on. David wanted his Zoe back, and he was determined to make that happen.

  He prepared breakfast, and called for her to join him. He poured them each a cup of coffee and said, “I’ve made plans for us for the day. I’m determined to bring you back to the land of the living. I don’t have to tell you what your father meant to me, and neither do Harry and Adam have to tell you what he meant to them. You are not the only one who loved him or misses him, and you can’t possibly claim to have loved him more than anyone else.

  “It is important to all of us that you get back to the novel; there is no better way you can honor him or prove your love for him. He entrusted you with that task because he knew that you, and only you, could tell his story the way he wanted it told. We both know you are not going to disappoint him.”

  They finished eating and she helped clean up. She went upstairs, showered, and dressed. When she came back down, she walked up to David and kissed him deeply. “I Love you David with every fiber of my being. You are right, absolutely right. Today is ours; tomorrow I get back to work. I have just one request; can we sandwich in a little flying to your plans?”

  “I Love you too, but no sandwiching is needed. Flying was my plan, in fact my only plan.”

  Dare to dream, dare to fly, dare to touch the sky had been her Daddy’s mantra, and she couldn’t count the many times he told her that altitude cleared his thoughts. With David at the controls, Zoe allowed herself to lean back, close her eyes, and think. By the time they returned to the aerodrome, she was ready to move forward.

  They stopped at the cottage, but didn’t go in. They walked around the side and through the garden to the gravesite. “Daddy, I’m here to make you a promise; I will finish A Diamond in the Rough by yearend. The diamonds will be presented to their new owner per your wishes when the book is published.”

  They had dinner in the Village before driving back to London.

  With Jake’s passing, the family unanimously decided to forego their annual get-together over the holidays. They could always resume them next year or perhaps plan them impromptu throughout the year.

  Zoe logged off the computer and exclaimed to David, “I have finished my novel.” It was New Year’s Eve.

  David popped the cork and poured them each a glass of champagne. “Mazel Tov to the love of my life, my best friend, and my new favorite author. To a fabulous 2016—certain to be a year to remember.”

  She didn’t recall agreeing to his suggestion, but before she knew what was happening, they were out the door and on their way to join the thousands of others, who braved the cold weather to experience the annual display of fireworks, centered around the London Eye on the capital’s South Bank of the River Thames. Although temperatures hovered near freezing, the warmth that engulfed her came from within. Enfolded in David’s arms, she gazed upward as burst after burst appeared in the sky. 2016 looked to be a very good year; she was sure of it.

  Once her manuscript was in the hands of the publisher, she began orchestrating the event that would avail A Diamond in the Rough to the public, and present the diamond cache to whom her father deemed the rightful owner. She hoped to have everything in place when she received the date of the book’s release from the publisher.

  The family eagerly awaited the news that David finally texted to all—It’s a go! The event was set for Sunday, 15 May 2016, and one thousand invitations were promptly posted.

  The Grand Ballroom of the David InterContinental Hotel was decked out in its finest. From the eldest to the youngest, twenty-four members of the family were seated at two tables side-by-side for the dinner honoring their Patriarch Jacob Aaron Lyons. Preparations for the event had been ongoing for months and planned to coincide with the release of A Diamond in the Rough by Zoe Lyons Handler.

  As they enjoyed dinner, the Lyons family relished feelings of elation. The room was abuzz with anticipation of what Zoe’s book would reveal about diamonds—it was all about diamonds. A conclusion most reached based on the book’s title and by recognizing the fact that his life’s story was widely known.

  They couldn’t have been more wrong. Zoe penned the book from start to finish to include each and every aspect of her father’s life, which in reality diamonds played a lesser role than aviation. In a unique and heartfelt way, she managed to deliver a cut and polished version of an extraordinary human being who lead an extraordinary life—her Daddy.

  As dessert was being served, Zoe once again addressed the audience.

  “Jacob Lyons lived his entire life rooted in love and family considering his close friends and employees an extension of that family. He was a people person who possessed an innate ability to read people, and never was that more apparent than to Harry, Adam, and me when we tried putting his feet to the fire. He was well aware that Adam and I pushed hardest.

  “Although he sought neither fame nor fortune, they found him handily. At the age of seventeen he was trained to kill the enemy with a plane as his weapon. Agonizing over the loss of fellow pilots brought him face-to-face with the realization that each of his kills was somebody’s husband, father, son. He confided in me that he carried that burden long after the War had ended. His decision to enter the world of aviation allowed him to cast that burden aside by using aircraft as a means for good instead of a weapon for evil.

  “Although it was I who wrote the book, my brothers Harry and Adam are equally as dedicated to the story. In fact, it was Harry’s idea to publish it after my father honored a promise he made to my mother to put pen to paper and write the Lyons story for our family. You will find their tribute to our father at the beginning of the book.

  “Please welcome my brothers Harry and Adam.”

  As the applause died down, Harry stepped to the microphone. “When I received my advance copy of A Diamond in the Rough, for a few moments, I sat holding the book close to my heart without opening it. I held in my hands what few people are fortunate to ever realize, and for that Zoe, I thank you; your book is amazing. You have captured the true essence of Dad’s lifelong journey as no one else could have.

  “When I suggested to our father that we publish his story, he quickly agreed and just as quickly tasked Zoe, Adam, and me to write it. In turn, Adam and I quickly agreed that he really meant Zoe, and only included us in an effort not to hurt our feelings. Although I happen to know my sister was relieved when we opted out, she expected us to, and we didn’t disappoint her.

  “At times, it seemed our father knew his children better than we knew ourselves. His parenting style was by example, never seeking to influence our choices. He believed we are what we are today because of the choices we made yesterday, and he encouraged us to follow our hearts.

  “This was never more evident to me than when I chose to become a physician, and showed no interest in learning to fly a plane. I am to this day his only child that is not a pilot, but I flew with him many times, just the two of us, and I treasure the advice and guidance he offered me on those flights.

  “Now, I’d like to turn the microphone over to my brother Adam.”

  Adam approached the podium with a broad grin on his face. “There are certain advantages to being a twin, an identical twin, and Harry and I used those advantages many times growing up especially during our dating years.

  “The story that our father couldn’t tell us apart when we came home from the hospital has been circulating in the family for as long as I can remember. Exactly when he learned Harry was Harry and I was Adam, I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is that though we were identical twins, he treated us each as one of a kind. He told us that just because we looked alike, it didn’t mean we had the same dreams and goals.

  “I’ll never forget when I told him I wanted to learn to fly and become a pilot. I was fourteen years old. I knew I could take lessons at that age, but I also knew I h
ad to be seventeen before I could get my license. Facing a three-year wait seemed daunting to me, and I told him how I felt. Never one to sugarcoat or defend any given situation, he asked that we revisit my feelings after my lessons had gotten underway.

  “Of course, he was right. The euphoric feeling of being at the controls as the plane lifted off and climbed high above the ground below obliterated all thoughts of waiting. I could fly albeit with him sitting next to me, but all that mattered was I could fly. After that, waiting for a piece of paper was no big deal.

  “Sis, my hat is off to you. I read my advance copy in one sitting; I didn’t stop until I had read the last word on the last page. Excellent job.”

  The applause seemed to go on and on. Zoe stood waiting, but decided to begin speaking. “On behalf of the Lyons Family, I thank all of you for coming this evening, those of you who knew my father, as well as those who knew of him; those of you whose lives he touched, as well as those who touched his life.

  “The Exhibit will remain on display in Tel Aviv for six months, at which time it will be moved to Jerusalem for an additional six months. I am pleased, honored, and incredibly proud to announce in accordance with my father’s wishes, at that time, the chest and its cache of diamonds will become the property of the State of Israel.

  “My ties to Israel began at birth. I am a Sabra having been born in the original Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus. The Pediatric Wing is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather—Dr. Emanuel Portman who served as Head of the Pediatric Department before the State of Israel was proclaimed. My mother was a pediatric nurse at the hospital when she gave birth to me, and later took classes at the University prior to returning to England and reuniting with my father after the War.