James Reynolds
by: George Klaum (Iodine Wolf)
It was March 2nd, 2003, when my father called up crying. "Your mom has..."
"Spit it out dad!"
"Your mom...is...dead!" He cried into the phone. I became frantic and yelled into the phone "Where are you?!"
"I'm at the hospital!"
"I'll be right there!"
I ran down the road from my home on Sunnyvale Drive to the hospital about 4 blocks down the lane. I ran inside, the nurse directing me to the room. I slammed open the door to find my father weeping over what seemed to be my mother. She was laying there, just...laying there. She was not breathing, and you could tell she had been crying. "Oh my god, dad, what happened?" I weeped as i ran over to where my mom was laying. Three doctors were waiting for us to finish so they could carry her out. "She had a heart attack this morning!" He cried. That was all we could manage to communicate, when we were engulfed in tears. The three doctors carried my mom out and and we went home.
That was 2 years ago, and im 27 now. My dad went into seclusion and i never see him happy anymore.
I got over it, on the other hand, People always asking me "Don't you care?!"
Yes, i do care, of course i care, she was my mother. I know people have to die sometime, and it's not in their control when. Sure, it's hard to lose someone really close to you, but you must realize, no one lives forever. My life is still going the same, and it's almost like my mom is still here. I have a picture of my dad, my mom,and i sitting next to my bed. I was 17 in that picture, and we were lookin' happy, like we always were.
I really do miss my mom though, and tommorrow is her birthday. She's gonna be 68 tommorrow, and I bought a vanilla cake and some gifts. The cake has vanilla icing over vanilla cake and pink and purple flowers with a "Happy Birthday" written in the center in blue gel icing. It was a pretty large sheet cake, and I bought it at Goodman's Bakery right down the road. I also bought her some candles, one of her favorite things. You could always find about 20 candles somewhere in her house, lit or not. I only got her one candle, since I only brought 27 bucks with me, and i still needed a card and a gift bag, and the cake cost $20 anyway. The card says "Happy 68th Birthday mom! And happy it will always be as long as I have you!" I signed it at the bottom, James Reynolds.
I woke up that morning, December 11th, and walked into the bathroom. I undressed and took a shower, after which I tied my hair back, and put on a nice looking black and white suit. I straightened my tie, and put on some cheap cologne. The cake was in the fridge so none of the cats got to it, in a white box with plastic at the top. I grabbed the cake and walked out into the living room, where I had hidden the gift underneath the couch, where I always hid them so my mom couldn't find them and ruin the surprise. I grabbed the gift bag and card off of the mantel, and ducked down onto the hardwood floor to get the candle from under the couch. My mom never got upset with gifts, because all she really wanted was to see me. But it did get her one of her favorite scents, Autumn Lily, in a nice looking glass jar with a picture of a patch of lilies with golden leaves falling around them on the front. I grabbed a half pack of matches from the desk drawer, and stuck them in my pocket. Then I placed the candles inside the gift bag and placed the card in an evelope and placed that atop the candles.I picked up the gift bag and grabbed the cake, and walked to the front door, opening it with a hastle and locking it behind me. My car was parked off of the sidewalk down the stairs and past the flower garden I had growing out front. I opened the passenger door and placed the gift bag and cake on the seat.
The sky was hazy and it looked like it would snow. I wouldnt mind very much. That's when I realized I forgot the utensils, so i ran back inside and grabbed a knife, two plates, and two forks, and walked back to the car, locking the door behind me. I walked over to the drivers side of the car, and got in, starting it up. I had a smile on my face, knowing my mom would be happy. I drove down the road four blocks and took a left by the hospital, driving three more blocks down Oakland Road, and stopping in front of a rather large cemetary with steel gates surrounding it. I parked my car and got out, stretching and looking around to see what gate was open at the cemetary. Turns out the east gate was open, the one closest to where i had parked. I opened the passenger door grabbing the gift bag, utensils, and cake in both hands and closing the door with my right knee. I walked down to the gate shivering at the slight December breeze. It was 31 degrees and i forgot my coat. But I didn't care, as long as I got to celebrate my moms birthday. I walked in the gate and walked down the path until I came upon the old tree that marked the pathway to my mother's tombstone.
There it was, 5th down the long row, Catherine Reynolds. I sat down next to the tombstone giving my mom some space, and placed everything on the ground, remembering the blanket i left at home. "Happy Birthday mom!" I smiled, Looking at the tombstone and placing my arm around the cold marble. "I got you something," I proclaimed as I grabbed the blue giftbag off of the ground and placed it in front of the tombstone. "Here, i'll read the card to you: 'Happy 68th Birthday mom! And happy it will always be as long as I have you.' I set the card on top of the cake box and grabbed the Autumn Lily candle out of the bag, setting the bag aside. I opened the candle and placed it in front of the tombstone, lighting it with one of the matches i brought with. "I hope youve been doing okay since last time I talked to ya. I know ive been doing pretty good. You remember Danielle, dont you? Well, she went to Japan for awhile, on a company trip, selling some of their pottery. Yeah, there's nothing new going on, other than the fact that I got a new cat. Her name is Crystal, and shes a good cat. She's a pretty Persian, with long white hair, and dark blue eyes, I wish you could see her. Yea, thats pretty much it, nothing new going on other than that." I smiled and grabbed the cake. "I got you a cake! Its your favorite, Vanilla!" I opened the cake. "Okay, one, two, three...Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear mom, Happy birthday to you!!" I sang, smiling the whole time. I grabbed the knife i brought along and place down two plates with forks to go with them. The candle was still burning, and the sun was starting to set under the mountain, even though you couldnt see it through the clouds. I cut two big pieces of cake, and placed them on the plates. I closed the box and started to eat my slice, looking down at the non eaten piece half way through. "Oh yea, that's right, you dont like to eat the cake right away, so, i'll save it for you for later," I said, picking up the box lid and placing the cake back in.
The rest of the time i was there, I spent recalling past events I remember from when I was younger, crying every now and then, and wishing She was still here.
At about 9:00, I gathered the cake, and the half burnt candle, placed the plates and plastic forks and the knife in the giftbag , folded it up, and began to stand up. "I love you mom, and i'll see you some other time, but its getting a little late, and I dont want to keep you awake for to long. " I hugged the tombstone, and began to walk away, throwing the giftbag in the garbage can by the gate. I turned around and blew a kiss in her direction, then turned around and got into my car, with a smile on my face, and a tear in my eye, and began to drive home. When I got home, I walked in the door, placed the candle on the table and lit it up, and placed the cake in the fridge, not touching my mom's piece of cake, knowing that she probably wont eat it, but keeping it just incase she does, until it starts to spoil. I placed a blanket on the couch, and layed down, watching the clock tick by until the hour hand hit midnight, muttering to myself "Happy Birthday Mom."