The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

The narrative shifts to a flashback. Annie is 12 years old now and entering middle school.

Annie was not enrolled in elementary school until partway through third grade, and she was an “outcast” from the beginning as children noticed her hand. Annie spent the first few years of school trying to make friends through gifts. She had to wear splints for several grades as well, which added to children’s excuses to stare and ostracize her. The only child who didn’t bully Annie in this way was Paulo, who one day took her hand in his and told her, “It’s not that bad” (101). He even told Annie that her hand was a defining feature that made her different in a positive way—but Annie never saw this as a good thing. Annie had to do finger exercises by making the OK sign and got the nickname “OK Annie” (102). Paulo, however, only ever called her Annie.

Annie’s mother continues to “control her every move” even now that she is beginning middle school (103). She picks Annie up and drops her off, giving her no time to make friends or socialize before or after school. One day, Paulo comes to the car with Annie and offers to start walking her home. Annie’s mother rejects the offer, and Annie explodes at her, accusing her mother of infantilizing her.

Annie gazes up at her mother’s face, which consumes the whole sky. Annie’s mother explains that she is massive because that is how Annie saw her in life. She sees that Annie’s torso is hollow, and Annie tries to explain what happened, but emotion overcomes her. Annie is then taken inside her mother’s eye to see the world from her point of view.

Lorraine, Annie’s mother, met Annie’s father, Jerry, when she was working at a bakery. They fell in love quickly and married quickly. When Annie is born a year later, Jerry disappears for several days. Lorraine chooses to name Annie after Annie Edson Taylor, the first woman to survive plummeting down Niagara Falls in a barrel. When Jerry finally comes home days later, drunk, he scoffs at Lorraine’s choice, thinking it must be after the movie Annie.

As the months pass, Jerry becomes increasingly abusive, both physically and emotionally. He berates Lorraine for paying attention to Annie instead of him. Lorraine becomes obedient and submissive to avoid his anger, and it is only when she is holding Annie that she feels at ease. By the time Annie is four, Lorraine is certain that her marriage is not destined to last, but she feels guilty for potentially robbing Annie of a father. One day, Jerry picks Annie up and hits her repeatedly for opening the freezer; in that moment, Lorraine finally finds the strength to leave.

Throughout the long divorce, Lorraine tries to keep Annie happy, playing games with her and letting Annie sleep in her bed. Eventually, however, Lorraine must find work in order to pay the bills, and she and Annie begin drifting apart. Lorraine begins dating again, “hoping to change her life” (112).

When the accident happens at Ruby Pier, Jerry gets an idea to sue the amusement park and earn a large sum of money. In doing so, he attempts to gain custody of Annie, accusing Lorraine of being an unfit parent. Lorraine makes the difficult decision to take Annie and leave for Arizona shortly after, where they change their names and begin their isolated life safe from Annie’s father. The world of memories around Annie shifts to a scene of her and her mother in the car, and Lorraine remarks on how they always had each other, even when they had nothing else.

When Annie is 14, Paulo moves to Italy. Before he leaves, Annie spends a number of days feeling sad and confused, but also brimming with anticipation. Annie draws a picture of Paulo and plans to give it to him, along with a kiss, on his last day.

Annie is approached by one of the popular girls, who usually never speaks to her, and the girl asks to see Annie’s drawing. Annie shows her, and the girl takes a picture of it, complimenting Annie. Annie walks away wondering if she has just made a new friend and feels optimistic for the first time in a while. Later that day, she finds Paulo surrounded by the girl and a few other students, who are all laughing and teasing him. Annie knows that her drawing has been shared around and approaches the girl to voice her anger. The group laughs at Annie, but Paulo remains silent. Annie decides to give Paulo a kiss, telling him the drawing is for him; she runs home, where her mother scolds and grounds her for being late. The following day, Paulo leaves for Italy.

Lorraine attempts to erase her past and start a new life in Arizona, forgetting her old life, friends, and husband, but despite her efforts, she cannot escape. Annie has a similar experience, and at age 16 is still ostracized at school. Her teacher assigns a project to have everyone research significant events that occurred on the day they were born, and the same girl who made fun of Annie’s drawing decides to research Annie. She finds out about the accident at Ruby Pier and learns that Eddie died saving Annie; she announces it to the entire class. Annie was unaware of the details of the accident, having blocked it out of her memory. She becomes enraged at her mother for keeping it a secret from her.

Annie and Lorraine argue back and forth until Lorraine decides she won’t be attending that school anymore. Annie transfers from school to school afterward, and her accident is never mentioned with her mother again. As graduation approaches, Annie gets her first boyfriend, Walt, who has a car and provides her the attention she desperately craves. At graduation, Annie leaves her mother without saying a word, and doesn’t speak to her for a year afterward.

Annie moves in with Walt and enjoys her newfound independence. One day, she decides to visit her uncle, who is a doctor that recently moved nearby. When she goes to his office, she finds her mother sitting there, pale and sickly thin. Lorraine was diagnosed with cancer six months before, and her illness is terminal. Annie comes back into her mother’s life and helps her through this rough time, but the distance between them never seems to shrink. When Lorraine dies, her funeral is small.

In the afterlife, Annie and Lorraine watch the scene. Annie apologizes for shutting her mother out but also explains that she felt smothered and lied to as a child. Lorraine decides it is finally time to tell Annie everything about the day at Ruby Pier.

Annie is taken back to the day at Ruby Pier, where her mother shows her what she was doing in the moments of the accident. Lorraine was with her current boyfriend and the two of them were being affectionate on the sand underneath the boardwalk. Lorraine thought of Annie and wanted to go back to her, but allowed herself to be distracted by her boyfriend’s attention. When Lorraine realized that she was repeating old patterns—putting men before her daughter—she got up to leave and find Annie. Unfortunately, Lorraine realized this moments too late, and by the time she found Annie, the accident had already occurred.

At the time, Lorraine was desperate to prove to herself that she was worth something, and she admits now to Annie that it made her lose sight of what was truly important: her daughter. Lorraine tells Annie that her overprotection and panic in the following years were a result of her own feelings of inadequacy as a mother. Lorraine deeply needed to protect Annie at all costs.

Shortly after Lorraine’s death, Annie becomes pregnant. Walt reacts angrily, reluctantly agreeing to marry after much arguing. Annie doesn’t tell anyone about the pregnancy, and feels alone and terrified. She sees herself as an “embodiment of all her mother’s phobias” (140), as her partner is unsupportive and she feels like she has once again made a mistake. When Annie is seven months pregnant, she goes into labor and gives birth to her baby prematurely. The newborn is only three pounds, and his lungs are not fully developed. After three days, he dies. Annie goes into shock, only managing to communicate a name for him: Laurence. It is days before she speaks again.

In the afterlife, the tears Annie cries form a river that expands and is then surrounded by endless trees: Lorraine’s version of heaven. Lorraine empathizes with Annie about her story, which Annie has been waiting “forever” to tell her. Lorraine comments that secrets have a way of controlling people when they try to suppress them. Annie explains that when Paulo’s lungs were injured in the balloon accident, it felt like reliving the death of her child all over again. She asks if Paulo lived, but Lorraine does not know.

After Annie’s child dies, she has her marriage to Walt annulled. Lorraine points out how courageous Annie was during this time. She tells Annie about her namesake, and Annie points out that she failed to live up to the name, as she is not nearly as brave as Annie Edson Taylor. Lorraine disagrees and prompts her to remember how she moved forward. Annie recalls that she moved in with her uncle and spent several months in a dark state of grief; however, she became inspired by his work as a nurse.

In the afterlife, Lorraine confirms that she’s been waiting for Annie since her death. Annie reminds Lorraine of how much they clashed, but Lorraine prompts her to remember the rest: A slew of memories of the happy, loving times between Lorraine and Annie emerge in the water before them. Lorraine urges Annie to admit the real reason she became so resentful, and Annie does: “Because you weren’t there to save me” (150). Lorraine asks for Annie’s forgiveness, and when Annie implies she already forgave her, Lorraine points out that Annie needs to say it out loud for her own sake.

After Annie forgives her mother, Lorraine merges with the sky and disappears. A barrel appears in the river and Annie climbs in, going over the waterfall. She feels nothing but fear but shows great courage as she trusts whatever happens next.

On Earth, Tolbert learns of the balloon crash and that all three passengers are at the hospital. He makes his way there, fuming with anger and bewildered by the confusing events.