Walking in Memphis

The morning of

The funeral was the next day, and the plan was for me to drop John off at the church, drive to Walter's mother's house four miles away, and ride with her in a limousine with other family members to the funeral. Saturday morning, we woke up early and had the free breakfast at the motel. We had time to kill, and John wanted to see parts of Memphis, so I took him to Overton Park, which has many heavily wooded walking trails and is next to the Memphis Zoo.

The layout of Overton Park is confusing and it's easy to get lost, but I have a good sense of direction and closely watched which turns we took. It was the last peaceful time I would have before I left Memphis. The trails were quiet, and the trees were beautiful. John asked me the names of different trees, and I could identify most of them. Eventually, we came to the back entrance to the Memphis Zoo and spotted a guard. I had told John that the Memphis Zoo was larger than the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, and John was skeptical. I told him that the Memphis Zoo had a trained dolphin show, and John didn't believe me, so we jumped at the opportunity to ask the guard if it was true. Of course the guard said yes, and we had a wonderful conversation about what other features the zoo had. It was an exquisite morning.

By the time we got back to the truck, it was time to drop John off at the church. I had scouted out the location of the church the evening before and had the route memorized. It was a long drive, but we made it in plenty of time. Walter's body was already there for viewing, so I took John to the casket and left him in the care of Walter's brother Antoine, who is a pastor and was in charge of overseeing the viewing of Walter's body. I was a little concerned about how things would go for John since we would be the only white people at the funeral, but things went okay despite John's tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

I left the church and drove to Walter's mother's house. She had me park as far in the driveway as I could, which worried me since I was afraid of being parked in. That thought became a source of great worry and anxiety later that day, but for now I was okay.

I went into the house, where a few of Walter's relatives were gathered. Walter's brother Jonathan was there, and he thanked me for taking care of Walter and providing him a happy life. I felt moved and grateful because he was sincere. I expressed my appreciation, and we hugged.

When it was time to leave for the funeral, two limousines pulled up, and Walter's mother had me ride in the front limousine with her and Walter's stepfather. The rest of the relatives rode in the second limousine. As we drove off, a police car pulled in front of us with its flashing lights on and escorted us to the church. I memorized the route to the church, which would come in handy later on.