The Last Goodbye

We'd just finished our dinner and
I'd gone in the den and turned on the TV
When she walked in and kissed me on the cheek, like a million times before
And she said "Honey, I know it's late
But if you don't mind, my shopping's gotten a little behind
So, I think I'll drive down town to the grocery store"
Well, I didn't look up
Just nodded "OK", and asked her to hand me an ashtray
And when she did, I reached over and squeezed her hand
And then she left
And I shuddered a minute at the thought of my world, without her in it
And I reassuringly sought the touch of my wedding band

Well, I must've been dozing 'cause I didn't hear the door
And I thought, "now, that's strange; I've never done that before"
But I looked up, and she was standing by my chair
"Kinda snucked in on me", I said
And she smiled and nodded her head
And I told her that she looked just like an angel, standing there

For a long moment, she didn't say a thing
And then she caressed her gold wedding ring
And I thought I saw a tear drop in her eye
"Honey, you'll never know how much I love you", she said

And I thought of the many years that we had been wed
As I told her that no one could be as happy as I
And then the strangest feeling filled the room
Not one of happiness but one of gloom

And for the first time in my life
I saw sadness in her face
I reached out to touch her, and she drew away
And she told me again
That ours was a love that time could never erase

And then I thought I heard a thousand voices singing
But I realized it was the telephone ringing
And that's when I saw the halo surround her pretty, golden hair
I turned, trembling, to the receiver and heard a cold voice say that
There had been a wreck out on the highway
And I knew that, when I looked back
She wouldn't be there, because
It was an angel's way of saying our last goodbye