Heiser-The-Facade - Sparkling Eyes

times while we were in Ireland, the first time shortly after they'd arrived. I ' ve often wonderedif they ever got along. I remember my Dad telling me as a kid that before they gotmarried she wanted to go to Argentina in the worst way—but then locked onto Ireland assoon as she got married. She told him God wanted her there and that she was going—with or without him. Come to think of it," she added, reliving the confrontation,"although I never got a confession, from the sound of things I got the distinct impressionthat my father wasn't sure if I was even his daughter. Eventually the whole combinationof events drove my mother over the edge and destroyed our family.""What do you mean?""Mom wound up in a mental hospital. She never left, either. She died there a littleover a year after her admission. My father committed suicide a few months after that. Ididn't have any firsthand knowledge of all this, mind you; I left home for good the fallsemester after my assault and never told my parents where I was going. I found out yearsafter the fact from archives in my hometown paper when curiosity got the best of me. Sothere you have it; God's surely been good to me. Thank you Jesus for screwing up mylife.""Melissa—""Don't lecture me about God, Brian, or even blasphemy for that matter.""I had no intention.""What is it then?"` . . . Come here . . . please," he motioned with his right hand after a moment ofhesitation.Melissa stood up and moved to the other side of the bed. Brian took her hand, andlooked up at her. "I know you know this, but I think you need to hear it from someoneelse.""What's that?""None of it was your fault. God would never hold you ac-countable for any ofthis.""I know," she acknowledged, somewhat irritably, and pulled her hand back, butBrian did not let go."That's not all," he said nervously, mustering the courage to say what was on hisheart. "I'm sorry for what was done to you. If I had been there, I'd have been on yourside, no matter what. You've overcome so much to make a success of yourself. I admireyou.""Oh, Brian," she said wistfully, stroking his hand, "if you only knew ..." shepaused. "If you only knew what I've done. You would certainly take that back.""So educate me.""I guess it doesn't matter," she sighed. "I'11 at least leave the room todayunhated, if not respected.""I meant what I just said."Melissa mustered a polite smile. "Like I said, I stuck it out at my parents' housethe rest of that school year. Not that we were a family anymore, mind you. I decided Iwanted to go into medicine, so I spent the year studying, both to prepare for the pre-medprograms to which I'd applied and to take my mind off of what had happened, whichdidn't work. I became angrier every day. I quit going to church and basically told myparents what they could do with their phony religion. When I left I told them in a letter231