The Boys are back in Town

Funerals were never easy. The first funeral I had ever attended was when I was three but I guess that didn't really count. So technically my first funeral that I attended, and remember, would be my cousin Michelle's. Her death, to say the least, was a surprise. Literally healthy one day and dead the next. It was a beautiful funeral though, despite the crying and recall of old memories and the wishing we had spent more time together. I guess no one ever really gets used to funerals because you know you can't ever change the reason you're there, which I guess kind of sucks but still. When you hear the word 'funeral' you know what to expect.

What I didn't expect, though, was to be planning and then attending my own mothers funeral at only age 23. My mom was not supposed to die before I graduated from college, or before I got married, or before meeting her grandchildren. Hell, she wasn't supposed to die before I even thought of any of those things. She was supposed to live forever. Yet here I am, mom most definitely did not live forever because there she is, and she's slowly being descended into the earth. Although I would have much rather had mom cremated and shared between my father, brother and I, my mom wanted a tradition burial. So that is what she got. She also wanted large white peonies, which we also got, with their stems wrapped in baby blue ribbon just like her wedding bouquet. Everyone from our small town attended the service, which was expected. My mom was a fourth grade teacher and an avid volunteer. She did anything and everything to keep Junction County a happy and homey place, not only for the residents but for the tourists and new comers as well. Whitney Anne Caran was an amazing woman with so much more life to live, but not anymore.

"Toby! Oh sweetheart," Mrs.Wilder was the most caring woman you could meet and also my mothers partner in crime. They have, had, been best friends since they were kids, practically inseparable. Because of their friendship my brother Ryan and I have been best friends with the Wilder boys since birth. Lee and Jay were older but always played babysitter, moms orders, to Nick and Cameron. When we played together it  was usually me and Nick being ignored or just plain ditched. That is until high school when I made my own friends and it was 'cool' to hang out with my big bro and his football friends. We were one big happy, silly, jokey group. We were a family. That is until 'the year' senior year, Nick Wilder asked me on a date and the rest is history until I found him kissing my friend at the time Erin. So after I graduated high school I moved to Edmonton, worked two jobs, went to school full time and now I'm living my life happily single. That is until my mom went for a check up and found out she was literally filled with cancer. There isn't anything we can do, the doctor had said, except let her live her life out happy with family by her side. Now I'm living not-so-happily single.

"We missed you here in 'the Junction', you know all the boys have moved to different places. The last time that they saw each other was your high school graduation. I don't think they talk much." Mrs.Wilder's eyes were sad, she knew her boys don't talk to each other and she knew why. When Lee, Jay and Cam found out about what Nick had done to me they couldn't look at him the same. When the Wilder boys were young their father had cheated and then left, they didn't respect men who were unfaithful to the one they loved. I guess Nick had a change of heart. Mrs.Wilder's eyes snapped up to meet my hazel eyes, her smile slowly stretching.

"Oh but they're all flying in, sweetheart, they're flying in just to see you. And Ryan of course! Oh gee, where is that brother of yours?" She was excited now, but her eyes were still plagued with grief. I told her where my brother was but she wasn't going to go find him, not right away anyways, she was going to sneak into the public washrooms and have a good cry before fixing her makeup and telling Ryan the good news. The Boys are back in Town.

Here's my first chapter of my book. Hopefully everything goes well and I actually finish this one. Whoever actually ends up reading this, thank you I appreciate the time you took to read this tiny chapter just to start out. Let's see how this goes... I may need help from my possible readers.

Adios,
Lambo