On my return journey I thought a great deal about my reason for being here in the first place. Due to my desire for knowledge I had learned more in my short non-life than most ghosts do in hundreds of years. I wondered too what would have happened if I hadn’t had that panic attack and realized that I still had a fear of dying, even though I had already died once. I was beginning to feel that this non-life business was not for me. I found the idea of scaring people, which most ghosts enjoyed so much, to be immature and silly, in fact I felt as out of place as a middle aged human among a group of juveniles. I knew then that I wanted to move on, to keep learning and growing, rather than waste my time with such nonsense. At the same time I also realized that we are all at different stages of spiritual evolution and that this was fine for those who still enjoyed it. They too would reach the point where they would want to move on but as time meant nothing, except in the physical experience, they could stay around as long as they wished.

Back home at last, I was pleased to find that all was going well with my family. Patrick John was now in school and had a sister who was two years old and another baby was on the way. Both Mary and Elsie I soon learned had babies as well, Mary, a boy of 16 months and Elsie also had a boy of just seven months. Eric was dating the daughter of the local schoolmaster and was getting constant ribbing from his brothers about moving up in society. Ann’s father, however, was not adverse to his daughter marrying into one of the most successful fishing families in the colony. There was even talk among my sons of opening a small general store with an eye towards getting into the fish buying and exporting business in a year or two. I was soon to learn that not only had Eric asked Mr. Jonas Wakeham, for his daughter’s hand in marriage, but with his brothers’ consent, had also discussed their business plans. Mr Wakeham had readily given his permission for the marriage and had also invited all four brothers to his house to discuss the business proposal.

As you might expect I was an uninvited but also unseen guest at that meeting. I liked Mr. Wakeham from the very beginning, a short, stocky, slightly balding man, he appeared to be in his mid forties and looked none the worse for having to spend thirty plus hours a week teaching and disciplining over 40 adolescents, most of whom were boys. The reason for the meeting quickly became clear. Both Mr. Wakeham and his wife had contacts in London who could be very beneficial to the new enterprise, and they were leaving for England in just three weeks. They would be returning in the Fall and were willing for Eric to accompany them if he and Ann would marry before their departure. Two weeks later the young couple took their vows before The Reverent Samuel Haines, the newly arrived Church of England Cleric and in the presence of their family and friends. Just one week later they sailed for London.