The Aftermath

-Due Date-

Chapter Eleven

‘Due Date’

Bree and I sat together this one last time in Ms. Castleberry’s classroom, and waited for the video to play. We were eagerly joined by most of the well welcomed people we’d interviewed even Old Joe, but of course Birdie and her sisters, plus a warm welcome from Davis Norman and his Mom and Dad. Which was sufficiently awkward thanks to Bree giving me weird looks the entire time we’d waited for our video to come up on the screen.

It started it off with Birdie’s story and everyone else’s followed just as we’d done each interview calmly and deleting the odd staring people some did into the camera It was far weirder seeing everyone’s reaction to each one as complex as they’d gotten and as hard as it was to rewatch some of them and clearly hearing Bree sniveling through most of the entire story portion. Each of them had one thing in common whilst all of them were on screen. They’d left apart of them on the screen even me as I watched my own interview last it was refreshing to know that I’d been the one to finish the whole thing off and then right at the end both Bree and I popped up on screen.

“Well this was sufficiently wow; the two weeks were very eventful. Instead of a regular conclusion we just wanted to say what we learned from each person.

From Birdie we learned that just because no one talks about it and you pretend that things are the same doesn’t mean they are. That sometimes it takes longer for people to wrap their heads around their loved ones being gone there is no real appropriate grieving time period. You feel it and you feel it every day there is life inside of you.

From Davis we learned even the best seeming of situations aren’t actually the best. That just because someone smiles a lot doesn’t mean there isn’t a thousand tons of pain behind each one. You don’t have to poor or come from a broken home to feel like something’s missing and it’s better to talk to someone than find comfort in over the counter drugs or alcohol or any vice you can think of.

From Joe it made us thankful for each other. He lost one of the only brothers that he felt like really understood him and even though his brother’s life ended it didn’t mean his had to. His brother inspired him to keep going and go for what he really wanted do and that’s all anyone should ask for. To tell the people you love them while they are here so you that one day when they’re gone you don’t have to wish you had.

From Gia I learned that losing a parent isn’t the end of the world no matter how much it may feel like it. That they would want you to live and not dwell on them leaving but, remember that at one point they were there. Even when all seems lost and you feel like you’re fighting to stay afloat everyone needs that person to fall back on whether it’s a kooky aunt, a neurotic mother, a neat freak brother, or that crazy best friend you haven’t quite forgiven yet. Everyone needs that one person that they can talk to and remind them that life is serious but that sometimes you have to take time and just breathe.”