"It is just a story that some English guy wrote in the 1800’s! The next thing I know I will be featured in the movie, "It’s a Wonderful Life"!" Joe thought.

"So we have a wise guy," a voice boomed from the outside of the van. Joe opened the door. There standing before him was a guy dressed in a black robe from head to toe. "I am the spirit of Christmas yet to come. Now I have a lot of things that I need to get done so lets get on with the show."

Before Joe had a chance to even protest, his mind spun forward. When the night stopped spinning, he found himself in the back of a funeral parlor. Everyone that he knew was strolling in, tears filled their eyes and their voices were soft. Joe tried to move, but he couldn’t. He just stood there watching and wondering.

"I can’t believe that he is gone. Just like that?" a voice called out from the main room. It was Chet. The spirit in black moved Joe into the main room. There were so many people, that he could not see the front! All he could see was rows and rows of flowers and the very top of a silver coffin. Joe knew that he had to get up front and see who had died.

"I just feel sorry for Frank. He was the one who found him," Callie spoke up. Chet and Callie had taken up a couple of seats in the back of the room.

"Can you tell me again what happened?" Chet asked. "I just don’t understand."

"I guess on their way home from church Christmas Eve, the noticed that there were skid marks all over the road and a set of tracks that led down into a deep ravine. Mr. Hardy stopped the car, fearing that someone had wrecked. When the Hardys had made their way over to the edge of the road, they could see a set of taillights at the bottom and they could hear music. Frank took off running. He told me that it was so dark that night, but he made his way down there in seconds. He said he instantly recognized the song that carried from the van. He said he would never forget it…"Never Say Good-bye". You know, that Bon Jovi song. It was when he was within five feet of the van that he realized it was their van. He went to the driver door and that is where he found him. He didn’t have his seatbelt on, something that he always had on. Frank said he was slumped up against the steering wheel… motionless," Callie said tearfully. "Fenton said that he had to literally pull Frank off of him. I guess he thought he could save him, but he was already gone."

"Poor Frank. I don’t know if he will ever be the same again. I know how he feels," Chet remarked sadly. "But why was he out in this weather like that?"

"The police think that he got mad or upset and decided to go for a drive. He was simply driving too fast or had a death wish. From the looks of the tracks, the backend of the van went out from under him and he tried to get control of it. But he couldn’t. The van twirled around twice and went straight down into the ravine. They said he died on impact when the van hit that huge Oak tree," Callie recounted. "That is about the only thing that they can be thankful for… he didn’t suffer."

Joe made his way past Chet and Callie and to the front of the room. His heart was in his throat when he saw his mother, crying hysterically while his father held her tight. Frank sat on the other side, just staring into space. Then Joe turned to see, as if he didn’t have an idea already, who was in the casket. Joe walked up to the casket slowly and looked at the mirror image of him.

Joe jumped back from the sight, shaking and trembling.

"You thought that it didn’t matter. You got mad and got behind the wheel. You went too fast around a corner and lost control of the van. You fought to get it back, but you couldn’t. The van rolled over the side of the ravine, killing you instantly. Your brother is the one who found you that Christmas Eve and life was never the same after that. All because you got mad and didn’t think. All because you were trying to change something that simply can not be changed," the spirit sternly told Joe. Joe just stood there, watching his family grieve, unable to do anything to console them.

"You think that your life didn’t matter. That you didn’t have an effect on anyone. You were sadly mistaken Joe Hardy. Things happen in life for a reason and these things are not to be questioned. They are not meant to be fully understood, but we have so many loved ones to help us overcome those obstacles in life. Most of all, you have to have faith. Now I am going to show you the effect of changing things that were not meant to be."

Joe saw a flash of light and heard a bang like lightning. There before him was his mother, sitting on the family couch. It was Christmas Eve, but there were no decorations.

‘Why is she just sitting there?" Joe asked the spirit.

"Because after you died on Christmas Eve, she never had Christmas in her heart again. She went into a depression and never came out of it. She lived a horrible miserable life because she blamed herself for your death. If only she had stayed home, or made you come to church, then you would have been alive and well."

"Just like I am doing, right," Joe added, looking at his mother. The sight of his mother crying made his heart ache once more.

Another flash of light and a loud pop was heard and seen. It was then that Joe saw an image of his father, sitting at his desk in the study. His face was hard and didn’t seem to have any happiness.

‘Why does Dad look like that?" Joe asked.

"He tried to keep things going after your death. But your mother and brother made it difficult. He threw himself into his work and that is what he is doing on this very night…working instead of spending time with the family he has left."

"I suppose Frank is next," Joe said with a whimper. He was not sure if he wanted to see Frank or not. But he really didn’t have a choice.

The blinding light came with a loud bang. There sat Frank, alone in a small apartment. The room was dark and Frank was drinking something as he sat on a couch.

"He made a great lawyer… when he wasn’t drinking."

"Frank doesn’t drink. He would never touch alcohol," Joe said defensively.

"He did when he got older. He drank for many reasons… being lonely…being angry with the world…but the biggest reason he drank was to get that image of finding you dead in that van this very night. That image haunted him till the day he died," the spirit said.

Tears flowed down Joe’s cheek at the sight.

Joe turned to ask the spirit another question, but the spirit was not there. Instead, Iola stood firmly in front of him.

"Iola!" Joe cried out.

"You see Joe, things happen for no reason and no matter how much you investigate it, you will never know why. But you have to move on. You can’t stay stuck in the past because then you will miss out on the many glorious things that life has to offer. It was my time Joe. It was time for me to go. You can’t blame yourself for that because it was not your time. You have so many wonderful things to accomplish, people to meet, to help and to love. You have to let go of the guilt and let me be totally free," Iola begged. "I need for you to let me go so I can finally be free."

"I just can’t forget that you ever existed!"

‘I never said to do that my love," Iola said with a smile. "I will always be with you. But you have to move on. Change your destiny now Joe before it is too late."