Page 100 of Someone to Remember
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of theLordfor ever.
Memories of those words from Wes’s funeral come rushing back to me in a tsunami of emotions that take me right back to that dreadful day when I was the widow following the casket with two young kids clinging to my hands.
It’s all too much.
And then Taylor stands and heads to the altar to eulogize her husband.
My breath is caught in my throat as I try to brace myself for what she has to say.
“On behalf of myself and our children, Eliza and Miles, as well as Will’s family, I want to thank you all for being here today. Will would be so honored that you’re here and by the outpouring of love and support you’ve provided over this last surreal week.”
I wonder how she can do it.
I wanted to eulogize Wes when he died, but I couldn’t. So I wrote something that his brother read for me.
“I want to especially thank my parents and sisters, my amazing neighbor Kate and my widow friends, especially Iris and Gage, who’ve been by my side from the first minute I got the call that Will was in an accident at work all the way through to today. Nothing like having widow friends, including Christy and Joy, on call who know what to say and do when you’re widowed a second time. I never thought my life would unfold this way, but who could ever plan for such a thing? I want you to know that in the deep fog of grief, there’s also tremendous gratitude for the joy Will brought to our lives.
“My sweet, wonderful, precious Will…” Her voice breaks before she recovers and presses on. “I’ll miss watchingLove Islandwith you and hearing your predictions, which were usually spot-on. I’ll miss your unwavering love of all tacos, no matter what was in them. I’ll miss your chronically inside-out socks and our arguments over whether silverware should be sorted going into the dishwasher or coming out. For the record, the answer is coming out, and you were wrong the whole time, my love.”
The congregation laughs at that.
“I’ll miss seeing you with our kids and how you all loved each other with your whole hearts. Watching you become a dad, one careful moment at a time, never stepping on the toes of the man who gave them life as you helped to mold them into people we could be proud of, was one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever experienced. Eliza and Miles want you to know how much they love you and miss you. They want you to know they’ll never forget you.
“I’ll miss the way you loved me with everything you had and then some. You took on a widow and her heartbroken children and somehow made us whole again while making that look easy when it wasn’t. And more than almost anything, I’ll miss getting to see you with our son, who’ll never get to meet his wonderful daddy.” She takes a moment to recover her composure. “We’ll do everything we can to keep you alive for him, so he’ll know how lucky he was to have you as his father.
“Before this awful thing happened, I already knew that life wasn’t fair. Now I know it can be downright cruel. Despite that reality, my children and I will carry on. We’ll endeavor to make Will proud of us as we surround his son with all our love and continue to survive and thrive as we have for seven long years since we lost Greg.
“Will was the brightest light in our world. We’ll miss him always and love him forever. Rest in peace, my love.”
We’re wrecked by Taylor’s heartfelt words, delivered withsuch courage and fortitude. Tissues are passed between the five of us as we mop up a flood of tears.
When the service concludes, we’re invited to lunch at a nearby restaurant.
“Can you join us for lunch, Aurora?” Iris asks.
“I wish I could, but I’ve got to get back to work.” She hugs us all. “It was so, so good to see you guys.”
“We’d love to have you back in the group,” Iris says.
“I might get there one of these days. I appreciate you keeping me in the group text. It’s nice to hear what everyone is up to. Congratulations on your engagement, you two. When’s the big day?”
“This weekend,” Iris says with a grimace. “Timing is everything.”
“I hope you have the wonderful celebration you both deserve.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be in touch. Please give Taylor all my love.”
“We will,” Joy says. “It’ll mean a lot to her that you came.”
She blows us a kiss as she heads for her car.
