𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙰𝚜 𝚈𝚘𝚞

𝚜𝚒𝚡

| 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚕𝚢 |

We buried Mom and Dad five days later. January twenty-sixth, the sun couldn't be seen in the sky. It was hidden behind grey storm clouds. There was a small sea of black inside the church. Darry, Soda, Pony, and I stood at the front of the room, just in front of the caskets as we shook hands with everyone paying their respects. Due to the accident, we weren't able to have an open casket, Mom and Dad were unrecognizable when we claimed them at the hospital the day after the notification.

I shook hands with Mom's best friend, Suzie Aldridge, trying to keep my tears at bay as she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "You have to be a mom to them now. You're the woman of the house." She told me when she pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes with her black handkerchief.

You have to be a mom to them now. Those words struck me right in my core. I hadn't thought of that before. Ponyboy was only thirteen, he needed his mom... and now that was me. I suppress a sob as she moves down the line, saying something similar to Darry.

I look out among the small crowd, my eyes finding Bob standing in the very back of the church. I excuse myself from the line and make my way towards him. He was dressed sharply in a black suit, his rings gone from his fingers.

"You came..." I say in a shaky voice as we move into a darkened corner of the church.

"Of course I did." He whispers, reaching out to grab my hand. "I couldn't let you go through this alone."

I found comfort in his words. He was here for me, not because he felt the need to show up for the simple fact that he knew my parents. He was here because he cared. I launch myself into his arms, suddenly crying into his chest. He rocks me back and forth, rubbing small circles on my back as he whispers sweet nothings in my ear.

"I'm always here for you. Never forget that." He whispers, pulling me back from his chest to wipe the tears from my cheeks. I nodded, unable to say anything. He adjusts the birdcage veil on my head before gently kissing my cheek. "If you find yourself unable to give the eulogy, just look for me."

I hug him tightly, whispering a thank you in his ear before I make my way back to my brothers. Ponyboy looked like he was drowning and couldn't catch his breath, Sodapop had lost the light in his eyes, and Darry looked like a statue. I couldn't imagine what I looked like.

Father John Ball motions for us all to sit, making the sign of the cross before he moves up to the podium. "I would like to start today's service with a reading from John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Edith and Darryl Curtis sat in this room every Sunday for the last twenty years. I had the pleasure of knowing them through their love for God. Eternal life is a reality. Choose it. It is available. How is it available? Only through Jesus Christ. Edith and Darryl knew this, they accepted Christ into their hearts and their family. They raised three handsome sons and a beautiful daughter through their love for Christ. Our departed Edith and Darryl are with Jesus now, they chose eternal life. They chose Jesus. They chose to be born again of water and of Spirit. They chose to be in a place the "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him"." He pauses to take a breath.