Epilogue Face Down

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I'm 32 now. Marilyn and I have been happily married for a little over three years now. We also now have a 4 year old son named James. James C.J. Swank. Of course, neither of his is his real mother. She passed away a few days ago. Today we're going to her cremation. That's the way she told us she wanted it if something were to happen. She wanted Marilyn and me to have James, she wanted cremated and she wanted all of her friends to be there. We dressed James up in a little black suit and tie. I myself wore a knee-length, v-line, black dress. Marilyn, wearing a spaghetti strapped black floral dress, joined me in our minivan with James in the backseat. We drove in silence. When we got there Paige (hand in hand with Jacob, hair gone from the chemo), Jacob, and Henry (with his arm around his wife, a small baby bump protruding from her dress) are all standing outside, waiting for us. We all give each other a consoling look an then head inside. We turn down a corner and into a small room with a couch. Marilyn and I sit down on the couch with James on my lap. Henry's wife sits down next to Marilyn and Marilyn allows he to put her head on her shoulder. As we see the box, through the class window, go slowly through the fire, I say a silent goodbye to Danny. May she rest in peace.

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