HEARTS IN THE SAND
An inspirational story to
warm hearts & lift spirits

By Ann Hauprich

This story was originally published in the Spring 2004 edition of
Saratoga Living magazine.

Nelson Pompa "paved the way" for many in the region during his lifetime and was "a rock and a Teddy Bear" to his wife Agnes, whose own legacy includes being a model of mountain-moving faith, hope and love. The following pays tribute to this hard-working man who is fondly remembered for having had "a heart as big as all outdoors.

Strolling along the beaches of tropical paradises in the Caribbean was something Agnes and Nelson Pompa looked forward to doing together during mid-winter vacations. True soul mates who could almost read one another¹s minds after nearly half a century together, the couple¹s favorite spot to unwind and count their blessings was a stretch of shoreline on the island of Aruba.

So it was not surprising that Agnes's heart was heavy when she set out for an early morning stroll on the familiar beach earlier this year knowing that Nelson would never again leave footprints in the sand as he walked at her side.

His sudden death from a massive heart attack while alone behind the wheel of a Pompa Bros. Inc. vehicle in June of 2003 had left what sometimes felt like a hole in his wife's heart.

Now she was in Aruba with some family members who had accompanied her and Nelson to the island in happier times. When it came time for a 7 a.m. walk on the beach, Agnes put her best foot forward. What happened next was something right out of a "Touched By An Angel" script.

"Nels and I used to pick up sea shells as we walked, keeping the ones we thought were especially pretty or unique . . . that would make nice souvenirs," recalls Agnes. "Well, while I was searching for shells this year, I noticed something that looked kind of unusual. I bent down to pick it up and it wasn't a shell at all . . . it was a piece of coral shaped like a heart." Immediately Agnes thought of Nelson and the heart attack that had robbed them of a final farewell.

Each day of her vacation, Agnes returned to the beach and each day came back to her room with another "pebble heart" to treasure. But it was what she found during her final stroll before heading home to Saratoga that convinced Agnes once and for all that the hearts were "heaven-sent" to reassure her that all was well with the soul mate she missed so much.

There, in a single cluster in the sand, were five perfectly shaped "pebble hearts" -- one for each of the five years she had previously vacationed on Aruba with Nelson. The largest of the five hearts had a hole in the middle of it. For Agnes, these would become cherished keepsakes that symbolize the awesome power of faith, hope and love.

Although there were no footprints in the sand, Agnes is sure her husband -- remembered by so many as having "a heart as big as all outdoors" --  was with her in spirit as she strolled the beaches an ocean away from the stone quarry he had worked so hard to build during his lifetime.

The hole in her own heart is still there. But the healing has begun and Agnes will be forever grateful for the priceless souvenirs bestowed upon her in the unlikely form of tiny coral hearts in the sand.