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check,” he told me. “The only ones I know about for sure are my mother and Uncle Sven.”
    I felt a glow of pleasure at the mention of Uncle’s name. The image of him sprang to mind: his bald, shiny head, his bright eyes twinkling behind horn rim glasses, his cheery expression and voice, his unfailing sense of humor. “Where is he?” I asked. “What does he do?”
    “He works with music,” Albert said.
    “Of course.” I had to smile again. “He always loved music. Can I see him?”
    “Certainly.” Albert returned my smile. “I’ll arrange it as soon as you’ve become more acclimated.”
    “And your mother too,” I said. “I never knew her very well but I’d certainly like to see her again.”
    “I’ll arrange it,” Albert said.
    “What did you mean about having to check?” I asked. “Don’t families stay together?”
    “Not necessarily,” he told me. “Earth ties have less meaning here. Relationships of thought, not blood, are what count.”
    That sense of awe again. “I have to tell Ann about this,” I said. “Let her know where I am—that everything’s all right. I want that more than anything.”
    “There’s really no way, Chris,” Albert said. “You can’t get through.”
    “But I almost did.” I told him how I’d gotten Marie to write my message.
    “The two of you must have a great affinity,” he said. “Did she show it to your wife?”
    “No,” I shook my head. “But I could try again.”
    “You’re beyond that now,” he said.
    “But I have to let her know.”
    He put a hand on my shoulder. “She’ll be with you soon enough,” he told me gently.
    I had no idea what else to say. The thought that there was no way left to let Ann know I was all right was terribly depressing. “What about someone like Perry?” I asked, remembering suddenly. I told Albert about him.
    “Remember that you and he were on the same level then,” Albert said. “He wouldn’t be aware of you now.”
    Seeing my expression, Albert put an arm around my shoulder. “She’ll be here, Chris,” he said. “I guarantee it.” He smiled. “I can understand your feeling. She’s a lovely person.”
    “You know about her?” I asked, surprised.
    “About her, your children, Katie, your office, everything,” he said. “I’ve been with you for more than twenty years. Earth time, that is.”
    “Been with me?”
    “People on earth are never alone,” he explained. “There’s always someone as a guide for each individual.”
    “You mean you were my—guardian angel?” The phrase sounded trite but I could think of no other.
    “Guide is a better word,” Albert said. “Guardian angel is a concept derived by ancient man. He sensed the truth about guides but misinterpreted their identity because of his religious beliefs.”
    “Ann has one too?” I asked.
    “Of course.”
    “Then can’t her guide let her know about me?”
    “If she were open to it, yes, easily,” he answered and I knew there was no answer there. She was insulated by her skepticism.
    Another thought; this one brought about by the discovery that Albert had been near me for decades: a sense of shame as I realized that he’d been witness to many less than admirable acts on my part.
    “You were all right, Chris,” he said.
    “Are you reading my mind?” I asked.
    “Something like that,” he answered. “Don’t feel too badly about your life. Your flaws have been duplicated in the lives of millions of men and women who are, basically, good.”
    “My flaws were mostly to do with Ann,” I said. “I always loved her but, too often, failed her.”
    “Mostly when you were young,” he told me. “The young are too involved with themselves to really understand their mates. The making of a career alone is enough to subvert the capacity to understand. It was the same way in my life. I never got a chance to marry because I came across too young. But I failed to properly understand my mother, my father, my sisters. What’s