Knocking On Death's Door

Chapter 9

"We are gathered here today, to celebrate the life of Lachlan Spier. For anyone whom I haven't had the pleasure of meeting, I'm Gabrielle Cameron, the younger sister of Meghan Spier, Lachlan's mother." Mom thought it would be to much for herself to plan Lachlan's funeral, get through work and write a eulogy all at the same time, so she had asked her sister to do write the eulogy , Aunt Gabby came around a lot during the summer, she always brought alcohol free drinks to our house in hopes Dad would take to them, and drink them instead of actual alcohol, obviously he hasn't.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming, friends, family, neighbors, everyone. Thank you so much for taking time out your day to commemorate Lachlan" Aunt Gabby continues, tears stain her rosy cheeks and she wipes them away with her handkerchief. Mom's face is stained with tears and I hand her a couple of tissues, she graciously takes them and pulls me closer to her, like I'm a little kid who just saw a scary monster under their bed.

"Lachlan Alexander Spier was born January 12th, 2002, to my beautiful sister and her husband, Jim Spier, who is not with us today. He lived here for seventeen years, playing for his school's football and basketball teams" I sneer at the ground, Dad's not even here to mourn his own son, he's probably drinking and unaware his son's funeral is happening.

"Lachlan was especially close with his younger brother, Mark Spier, he mentioned quite often how much fun he always had when the two would go downtown for the day or just simply playing a sport in the backyard" Aunt Gabby smiles as she reads what she's written, her eyes tear up more and I see her fiancé tearing up as well. I look around the room, Mom doesn't usually invite a lot of people to our house, because its a disaster with Dad there, so I'm surprised at how many people are here. Benches are packed with people I don't even know!

"The summers I spent with Meghan's family are truly some of my most cherished memories, going downtown for the day, visiting islands and exploring them with both Lachlan and Mark, taking them to see movies when they were younger. Its all built up in me and the memories I have with Lachlan will never, ever be forgotten, I remember the first time Lachlan told me he aspired to be a detective, in the police force to help others in need" I smile,  I remember Lachlan saying that too, but Aunt Gabby had removed some parts of what he'd said. What he really said was that he wanted to be a detective when he left high school, he wanted to protect those who needed protecting, like Mom.

"Lachlan's life goal ever since he was a child, was to be accepted into the Vancouver Police Department, he wanted to become a well respected man in police force, who helped those who needed it, and righted the wrongs of fellow citizens" Aunt Gabby continues, the amount of tears in her eyes is increasing and she dabs at them with her little handkerchief.

"Lachlan was also an incredibly, brave, kind and smart nephew, brother and son. He cared about his family's feelings and wished for their well-being, he put our needs even before his own, something I could never ask a seventeen-year-old to ever do, but the thing is, I never asked him to be so kind, I never asked him to be brave and loyal, he just was, it was in his nature." Aunt Gabby takes a deep breath and pauses.

"He always told me I was beautiful and deserved to live a wonderful life, he lifted my spirits whenever I came over during holidays with my now ex-husband, who was a drug addict and never seemed to have time for me, Lachlan would always be there for me, no matter how sad or depressed he was that day, he was always there to lift me right from the dark place I'd been in" she draws in a shaky breath and more tears leak down her cheeks, she swallows.

"Throughout his short life, Lachlan taught me to love myself, to be kind to others who need it, and be brave when times are at their worst. Because the sun will shine again, no matter how bad the storm is, a ray of sunlight will break through eventually. Lachlan has blessed so many lives, and it with a heavy heart, that we say goodbye" Aunt Gabby got down from the small pedestal and went to sit beside her fiancé, he wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close to him. She cries into his suit jacket, but he says nothing, she keeps rubbing her shoulder comfortingly.