One Last Kiss

Ninety-one year-old Alice Butler lives in Florida, but her heart is far away. It was stolen long ago by a stranger in the desert sun.

Alice was 18 when she married and it wasn't long before she had the first of her seven children. When her husband's health faltered in the mid-1940s, they moved to the desert heat of Tucson, Ariz., where Alice would meet the love of her life.

It happened one day, as Alice walked with her young son, Vernon. The child suddenly slipped from her grasp, and darted into the path of an oncoming bus.

"I had him pretty good but he broke away just as the bus came," she recalls.

Luckily, a quick-thinking stranger pulled the boy out of harm's way.

The hero was Horace Rabago. He was handsome, dashing and quite taken with Alice.

Alice remembers, "He was good looking, though. He still is."

Yet, there would be no whirlwind romance.

She says, "Of course, he wasn't married. But I was."

Still, the friendship begun that day would last a lifetime.

But the timing was never right. When Alice eventually divorced, Horace was married. When Horace's wife died, Alice had already tied the knot with someone else. The two met briefly in 1972 and then went their separate ways again.

By the spring of 2002, Alice was gravely ill and slipping away.

Her granddaughter Kasey McMahan remembers, "The doctors called the family together and said our grandmother was going to die."

Then, she started getting phone calls from a long-lost friend in Arizona.

Kasey notes, "Her health has turned around tremendously."

Since then, Alice and Horace have spoken by phone nearly every day.

Alice says, "Each time I hang up, I feel better, I do. Can't believe I'm 92 years old still saying I love you to somebody."

And her granddaughter Kasey wished that she could say it in person. In her letter, she wrote:

"My wish is for my grandmother to get one last visit with her special love before they both leave us for a better place one day."

Well last week, Kasey's wish came true.

The plan was to fly in and surprise Horace. After three decades and two plane rides, Alice Butler was back in his hometown. With a little help, she was able to leave her wheelchair and walk the last few steps to his house under her own power.

Inside, Horace had no clue who might be on the other side of his door.

As he answered the door, he greeted her with "Halloooo!!!

In his eyes, she was as beautiful as ever.

He said, "She looks fine, same Alice that I used to know!"

Together at last, Alice and Horace just held each other and smiled.

"I love you, too," he said to her and they kissed.

Horace wanted to live out the remainder of his days with Alice and his wish came true as well. This past Monday morning, just before sunrise, Horace Rabago died peacefully at the age of 93, surrounded by his family, his friends, and the woman he never stopped loving.