Chapter 13
How Svein Met Kleerlee

Years ago I worked at an accounting firm in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I became friends with another fellow there, a young Norwegian named Svein. He was two years younger than me, and single, so Svein was always after me to join him after work for a cold one. I'd give up the ghost on him by 6:00 to go home to dinner and he'd go looking for trouble at the local honky tonks (the Outlaw Saloon was his favorite). He met a young girl there he took a fancy to, named Lorraine. They became thick as theives those two; wherever you saw Lorraine, you'd find Svein. I just assumed they would eventually marry, but then something happened.

About a year after Svein and Lorraine moved in together, we got a new accountant in the office. She was Norwegian too, named Kleerlee, and the cutest little girl you ever did see.

Svein was completely taken by her; just googley-eyed. To his credit though, he didn't make a move on her. He told me how he felt one night at the bar, and said he wished he'd met Kleerlee sooner. He just couldn't break up with Lorraine though, she loved him, and it wouldn't be right. I was impressed by that kind of loyalty.

So things settled down a bit at work. We all got along well enough, working together sometimes, and alone other times. Lorraine would come in once or twice a week to have lunch with Svein. She even met Kleerlee and the two got along pretty well.

It was a Wednesday in the summer when Lorraine came in to join Svein for lunch. They liked to have a picnic outside the building as it was near Sloan Lake. They left about noon and walked over to the lake. Svein said they had a nice lunch and talked about going to the Cheyenne Frontier Days later that summer.



-- Sloan Lake, Cheyenne, Wyoming

They finished lunch and took a walk along the lake shore. That's when it happened. They were walking along the lake embankment on a sidewalk when it suddenly gave way. It crumbled so fast that they both fell down with the sidewalk, over a 15 stone wall and right into the lake. Svein tried desperately to find Lorraine, going under the water again and again, but she'd disappeared.

The EMTs, fire department and police arrived almost immediately, but they couldn't find her for almost an hour. Finally, a diver with the fire department came up with her lifeless body. We had come out of our offices to see what the fuss was, and we all saw that sad sight. Svein was beside himself, inconsolable. The police and fire department determined it was an accident, the fault of a poorly engineered embankment and walkway, but we already knew that.

Svein took the rest of the week off to spend with Lorraine's family and help with the funeral. We all went, of course, that Saturday. The poor girl was only 26; so very sad.

So you can imagine everyone's surprise when, the next Monday morning, into work comes Svein. Not only was he there for work, but he was smiling! I took him aside and quietly asked him if he really felt ready to go back to work.

"Oh yes, George", he replied, "I think it was meant to be."
"How's that?", I asked.
"Don't you see?", he answered.
"I can see Kleerlee now, Lorraine is gone!"