Now I let you go

Untitled Part 1

If you could go back in time and prevent something bad from happening to a person you love too much, would you do it?

That was a question Sara Johnson would soon find an answer to. Sarah was a quiet girl, she had just turned 17 and had recently discovered something that would change her life for the next few months. A few weeks ago her grandmother had passed away due to metastatic cancer, but before she took her last breath she told Sarah that she wanted her to keep her golden watch, that she was sure she would take care of it and treasure it for a lifetime, moments later, with her icy hand in Sarah's warm hands, His heart stopped and he left this world. Sarah is very clear in her memory what happened after that, she remembers quite well how the 2 men from the funeral home arrived to take the lifeless body of her grandmother and how they took her for the last time from the house that saw her laugh, cry, love and take care of her children.

During the funeral Sarah did not let go of the watch at any time, she clung to it with all the love she could, she felt that the harder she pressed the watch, the closer she would be to her grandmother, as if she could feel the warmth that she once transmitted to her with her hugs. The 3 days that the funeral lasted, she did not dare to put on the watch, she felt that it was too early to proclaim herself the new owner, despite the fact that her grandmother confessed that she wanted it to be so, so she only put it in the pocket of her jacket and, with her eyes to the sky, promised that she would wear it as soon as she felt ready.

Once at the cemetery, all the family's family and close friends began to gather to say their last goodbyes. It was funny how the weather conspired with the moment that was taking place, the sky that a few minutes ago was sunny, was covered with clouds and a light breeze began to shake the treetops, the people gathered there thought that even the sky was sad, but Sarah thought that, rather, her grandmother was taking care of them from the strong rays of the Sun, giving them a cloudy day. Some relatives said words of gratitude addressed to their sister, mother or grandmother and then everyone present threw a sunflower on the coffin. The moment passed quite slowly, no one wanted to see how the coffin was descending to the depth of the earth, seeing it made everything more real, it was the absolute confirmation that their loved one was not going to return.

As soon as everything was over and the coffin was covered, everything froze for a moment, silence was present and silent tears ran down people's cheeks. From one moment to the next, the Sun rose again as a reminder that time was continuing, and people began to come out of their stupor. Slowly the relatives hugged each other, saying goodbye and giving each other shy smiles that expressed everything they could not say at that moment with words. Sarah just wanted to go home and, perhaps, find some peace in the mess that was on her mind at the time. He did the same as everyone else and said goodbye to his relatives until finally, together with his parents, they left the cemetery.

On the way home, neither Sarah nor her mother spoke much. In their minds there was a tumult of thoughts and emotions, but both shared the memory of their grandmother and mother being intubated in their house or the greyish colour that their skin acquired over the months and if they closed their eyes, both could clearly hear the sound of the doorbell that their grandmother used when she was so weak to stand or speak. It was a sound they both tried to forget, but it was tattooed in their minds, but over time they knew the sound would fade.

When they got home everything was just as they had left it weeks before to go see and take care of their grandmother, it was a strange feeling, so many things had happened and so many changes had taken place in their lives that it was strange to return home and see how nothing had changed there, it was as if they expected that something had also changed in their house. Slowly they began to unpack their things and once they made sure to put all their clothes back in their place and arrange their other belongings, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and their daughter sat in the living room, silence filled the room until Mrs. Rachel, Sarah's mother, burst into tears. Sarah did not take long to join him and quickly hugged her mother, Mr. Walter also joined the hug, and they were like that for a while, comforting each other and filling that immense hole they felt. After that, both Sarah and her mother felt a little more liberated, because the truth is that they had not been able to release all the tears they had accumulated at the funeral since they had to be buying flowers, attending to relatives who arrived or distributing coffee and bread.