falling stars//phan au

epilogue

The wedding was small. Friends new and old came along, along with parents and colleagues. Vows were exchanged, rings were given and smiles were seen the whole day long.

After a few years of quiet married life, they adopted a little girl and named her Andromeda, a silent nod to the love of astronomy that had, in a way, brought them together.

After years, little Dee grew up, and so did Dan and Phil, trading in their flat for a larger house, and then back to a flat when Dee left home.

After decades, two became one, and very soon after, one became none.

Their story, for the most part, was a happy one, and one they would never regret. It was commemorated in letters, in screenshots, in photographs and in videos, and most of all in me, Dee, their little girl. It is never really the end, and their memory went on for a long time. No one is ever really forgotten.

My parents would have been proud to have seen how many people turned out today. My father Phil always saw the best in people – he loved the world and loved to make people happy, and did so until the day he died. He was such a dad, always taking care of me and making sure I was safe – I'm sure you all remember the time when he tried to scare my first boyfriend but only managed to trip over a houseplant and land on him. Luckily Jay stayed, and you can see him there in the front row. Dan was a tentative parent – they loved me, but they never felt comfortable in any parental gatherings. They weren't in the mum group or the dad group during school pickup, they were just Dan, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. Dan was sometimes my mother, sometimes my father, and always my parent, but they were brilliant as whichever the time required. They weren't quite as comfortable in themselves as Dad was, but Dad helped them along and together they were as near to perfect as it was possible to be.

I'll never know their full story – I've seen some of their old conversations and obviously I went and found their old tumblr blogs, but I will never know all of what happened to bring them together. I know they went through one rough patch, but after that almost nothing – in all the time I can remember they were only apart for a matter of a few days after Dad passed away, and Dan was barely conscious during that time as it was. They were fortunate in that they shared all the years they had with one another, and got the most out of life that they could. It would have been wrong to have separate funerals for them; they were together as much as possible and they will be together until the very end.

As I've said, and as I'm sure the other speakers at this memorial service will say, their story was mostly a happy one. In my opinion (one that Dan shared with me), there is no such thing as a happy ending for anyone – this world doesn't allow it. But I'm sure you'll agree that what my parents got was as close to happily ever after as the universe would have allowed.

the end.