Page 109 of Maybe Some Other Time
“Who died and made him pastor?” Pauline muttered beside Thelma.
Meanwhile, the actual Pastor Liz—not to be confused with Lizzie, who stood at the far fringe of the group looking positively,decadently,moroselyVictorian—looked around with wonder in her eyes. She was the only one from church brought into the FBI office and made privy to Thelma’s predicament. In return, she was involuntarily made a volunteer for the government. Now, when women like Thelma appeared from the fog, a spiritual advisor was on hand.Wish I had something like that back then.Oh, well. She had made it through, hadn’t she?
Pastor Liz was the one brought forward to unveil the brand-new headstone erected beneath the large tree. More applause commenced, this time louder, because that was a mighty fine stone everyone had raised money for.
On it, an angel was etched, its wings outstretched from one side of the stone to the other, and its hands fastened in prayer above the nameTHELMA VAN DER GRAAF.Beneath was the date of Thelma’s birth in 1930 and the date she disappeared in 1958. The epitaph was a simple,“Loving Wife and Mother—Finally Brought Home.”
After all, Thelma’s missing persons case was officially closed. They now knew what happened to her that foggy night in 1958. There was closure for those still living and even those who were now in Heaven, as Pastor Liz explained when it was her turn to give a short sermon about the miracles of the universe and the meaning of life and death.
Why shouldn’t Thelma have a funeral? She was far from the first time traveler to put herself to rest so she could start a whole new life in a new time.Pauline has a gravestone in Pasadena.Frank’s had existed before he appeared in the future, and he saw no reason to remove it. Jo didn’t bother, because she had disappeared so long ago that she no longer recognized the world in ways even Thelma could not fathom.
All three of them were here now—yes, even Frank. Crystal had suggested everyone in group attend the funeral as part of their own process, and there they were, wearing yellow ribbons thatrepresented the people missing from home. Most who spoke were only interested in sharing what it was like to be a time traveler, from the fears, the confusion, and the tremendous grief that came with no longer belonging in a place that had once been home. And even Agent Wilcox, who was there on official business, took a moment to thank everyone for being understanding and following the outlines of their NDAs now that there were more among them who knew about time travel.
Yet the one who shocked Thelma the most? Robbie, looking like he’d rather shoot himself in the shin than stand in front of those people who knew he was Thelma’s son.
“Well, you see…” He sniffed, pale in the face since he had just received his weekly treatment the day before. But he kept himself upright as he addressed the people before him. “I was that kid who got bothered by the press and the police when the whole kerfuffle happened. ‘Course, we had no idea what happened to my mom. There were lots of terrible accusations against my dad, but he stayed strong. Seeing something like this makes me feel all sorts of ways, because my dad never wanted my mom legally declared dead. He always believed she was alive out there somewhere. Naturally, that meant he thought she left us, but I think he was okay with that if it meant she was happy. And as far as I can tell, my mom’s pretty happy now. I’m learning to count my blessings, just like Mom always used to tell me almost every day.‘Count your blessings, Robbie.’” Thelma hated to admit it, but it wasn’t a terrible impression. “‘You never know when God will call you up to ask if you’re square.’Well. Guess we’re square. It’s nice to see something like this finally. And it’s nice to have my mom in my life again, even though it still feels weird to say that.”
Thelma offered him a kiss on the cheek when he rejoined the crowd. It was her turn.
And wasn’t it strange, speaking at her own funeral?
“Count it all joy, my brethren,” she recited. “When you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
She let out a large breath. Pastor Liz was the only one smiling in beatitude.
“That was one of the first things I read when I came to this time,” she said, unable to look anywhere but at a patch of sunlight on the grass before her. “There I was, stuck in this quiet hotel room in the FBI field office, and all I had to read was a Bible. When I opened it to that passage, I knew it was a sign of some kind. Some higher power was telling me to be steadfast through this adversity I found myself in. If I could just hang on to who I was, then I would be okay.”
More than one person nodded.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself this past year, of course. I’ve learned that I can survive just one more day, even when everything inside my heart is crumbling, because I don’t know what’s going on or where I am. And I learned that I can stand up for myself through adversity. I mean, we always think we can do things like that. But then something likethishappens, and it’s as good as getting a swift kick in the rear by whatever power wants you growing a bit more.”
She sniffed.
“Anyway, it means a lot that so many of you came out here today for this. I not only have my family that is still here today, including my beautiful granddaughter, whom I would have never known had I not traveled that night. And all you lovely people in the group who took me in and made me feel at home with other time-traveling misfits. Crystal, of course, helped me learn about mindfulness and making peace with the anxiety this experience has given me. And Teacher Bee held my handthrough things like the Vietnam War and Ronald Reagan, whom I still can’t believe became president. I mean, the guy fromBedtime for Bonzo?”
That got the chuckle she sought.
“Everyone I met at Pride, at church, helped me learn that I could both be the person I always was and have a spiritual side to myself as well. That’s something I don’t think I could have really had back then. I just accepted it, because it was my fate. But now? I am who I am.” She looked at Pastor Liz when she said that. “Maybe I don’t really believe in the old-fashioned Christian God that was everywhere a year ago for me. But I believe in something. I believe in miracles. And it’s a miracle that brought me here before you today. Especially…” She glanced at Gretchen, who kept a respectful distance from some of the others who were excited to be there. “Well, you know who you are.”
“She means her hot new honey,” Lizzie said from beneath her black parasol.
As everyone laughed and Thelma was put in that precarious spot, she couldn’t help but acknowledge the last elephant among them. “It’s no secret why I’ve chosen to bury my past here.” She motioned to the other headstone. “A year ago, I would have insisted on being buried next to Bill, but he had someone else. He had the immense privilege of dying a married man who had a wife waiting for him. Sandy didn’t.” She swallowed, finally staring down at Sandy’s headstone with her full heart. “I hope she gets to relive those college years over and over up in Heaven. I hope she sees me as the woman she said goodbye to that afternoon, not the one who was on missing posters and having silly videos made about her on the internet.”
When she teared up too much to continue, Gretchen stepped forward, hugging her.
“It’s okay,” she said into the top of Thelma’s head. “She knows.”
Yes. She does.Some part of her, some eternal part of Thelma’s soul, was up in Heaven with Sandy, lying on a blanket in the school quad or sharing secrets late into the night. They ate cucumber sandwiches and made love in a married woman’s marital bed. She was there the morning of Thelma’s wedding, telling her how beautiful she was—and how badly she wished they could run away together, but she knew Thelma never would.
Let’s run away together now, Sandy.That piece of Thelma’s soul was entwined with Sandy’s. They could go anywhere in the world they wanted and exist in that moment.
The Thelma of now, though? The one who continued to inhabit that body and move forward, day by day?
She clung to Gretchen, grateful to have met her.
The funeral was not meant to be a dreadful affair. Once the speeches were given and pictures were taken, they moved to a public park nearby where they had a catered picnic complete with coffee and her homemade snickerdoodles (which had been a huge hit at the Chinese restaurant on Christmas.) FBI agents were on standby since talk of time travel was on everyone’s lips, but Thelma and Megan convinced some to take pictures with them and to eat those world-famous cookies. Thelma laughed to reminisce about Miriam Ortiz quizzing her on world cuisine she had never heard of before—many of which Thelma had sampled at least once that past year.
Everyone wanted to know what she planned on doing now that she was more comfortable with her place in time and still had her whole life ahead of her.There’s so much!Travel. Volunteering. Going back to school to finish her degree. She didn’t know what kind of work she wanted to do, but she gravitated toward the FBI field office and might finish her degree with an eye for working in the time travel department, helping new chrononauts navigate the crazy world of LosAngeles in the 21stcentury. Many told her to pursue a major in psychology, and she had that in her back pocket on top of American history.
