Dis: Do not own HBK or family.
A/N: This is based on a true story. Anie Stover went to my church and died August 5th, 2004. She died at the ripe old age of 16. She is now in heaven with her mother. I do not believe that she is related to HBK since he was not at the funeral, but even if he was at the funeral I would not have believed it. I was not friends with Anie but we did go to Georgia for work camp together. I hope you like it.
This is for Anie Stover:
"Who has a funeral on a Thursday morning?" Shawn said to himself fixing his tie.
"Someone who wants all the family there. That includes you."
He looked at his wife who was carrying their new child. She was wearing a long black dress with a jacket. For some reason it had become cold in the first few days of August. It also looked liked it was going to rain, but that never quite happened.
But she was right. His work schedule had made him miss half of the family's events. Even though this was a funeral for his wife's niece, it was nice to be thought of.
He hadn't seen the girl since she was at their wedding a few years back, but when someone tragically dies in a horrible car crash at the age of 16, you'll do almost anything to pay your respects.
"I still can't believe she is gone. She had so much to live for. And to have her best friend's dad recognize her car on his way home from work, its just awful," she said setting her baby down on the bed. She gave her husband a hug as he wiped away her tears.
The facts of the crash were horrible indeed. Anie Stover was only 16 on the fateful day one week ago. She was going south for a reason that no one really knows, when her car and another car hit briefly. It is not certain who was at fault or if anyone could really be blamed, but both cars went flying in different directions. As luck would have it the other car was made it safely to a stop on the grass while her car rolled violently into a concrete post. Her best friend's father was on his way home at the time. When he saw the black bumper sticker on the light blue car his heart sank and he pulled off the road. He was the one to get in contact with her father, the only remaining immediate family since her mother died five years earlier this month due to cancer.
It was Shawn's sister-in-law who had died of cancer. He didn't really know her. She had cancer since she was younger and Anie was called the miracle baby when she was born. Shawn couldn't imagine what the father was going through. To loose the love of your life to cancer, then almost 5 years to the day to loose your only child in a horrific crash. It was too much to think of.
They climbed in the car and made the silent drive to the church. There were two doors at the church, one to go in if you had signed the book the night before at a small gathering, the other if you still had to sign the book. They hadn't made it to the gathering the night before so they waited in the long line.
"I can't do this," his wife said with a sob, "I'm taking the kids by my mother."
She left him in the line. It moved every once in a while, but for the most part he stood still. He noticed a girl sitting on the windowsill dressed in blue jeans and a white tank top. She looked confused but depressed at the line of people.
"Do you need help?" he asked.
"I don't think so, I'm just lost. Have you seen my mother?"
"Not that I know of." The girl looked at her feet. "If you can't find your mother, you can sit with my family if you want." He thought it a nice jester to a girl who probably lost a good friend.
"I'll take you up on that offer later," she said looking down the rest of the line.
Shawn signed the four names in his family then slipped an envelope in to the card box. He spotted the girl again by the wall.
"I can't find her," she said. "I'll take you up on that offer."
They found where his wife was sitting and took the last two places in the pew.
"I'm surprised by the turn out," the girl whispered as a Hanson song started playing. Anie had gone to a Hanson concert the night before she died, her friends thought it right to play a song that got her threw life.
The casket passed them being carried by six men.
"It's a little creepy," Shawn said loud enough to be heard, "to think that when we die we become hollow and are carried around in a box."
"Hollow?" the girl questioned.
"No soul."
The pastor started with a brief prayer and a few words of his own. Then he read a letter from Anie's father since he did not want to talk. The phrase 'had so much to live for' came up a lot with dreams of what she could have done.
"What about what was done?" the girl asked. "There is no more future, we have to remember the past because if we don't, we'll have nothing."
She was right. It brought on more pain to think of all the things Anie would miss by only reaching 16. She would not graduate high school, she would not get married, and she would not start her own family. To think of what could have been brought on a few tears. Then he remembered all that she DID do. She stayed with the church in memory of her mother. She loved to play the guitar and sing. She went off to different places to fix houses for those who couldn't do it themselves. He remembered seeing pictures of all the things she was doing in her life. Shawn's feelings changed and he was proud to know such great person.
After a few other prayers a group of her friends went up to the front and said some words.
"We always had a great time. She was one of the only people that just glowed with pure happiness all the time. I looked forward to seeing her every morning before school."
"She told us she wanted to be a doctor so she could help people at their time of need. I know she would have been great because she always helped me with my problems and never asked for anything in return."
One girl could not stop crying and handed her speech to the pastor. "I will never forget the memory of my best friend. We had the time of our lives at the Hanson concert. Anie even swore to me that one of them winked at her. She always was ready to have fun and never gave in to the temptation of braking the law to do it. I will never forget the day we called in sick to school, just so we could go see the first showing of Harry Potter. Anie will always be my best friend and I will carry on for the both of us."
The girl next to Shawn sat quietly and took it all in. The only time she spoke was after an old teacher took his turn at the mic. "This world is filled with evil. Anie was too good for this world so God swooped down and pulled her out of it before she could be corrupted. While she was here she showed us what the power of love could really do. I believe she was taken from us too soon."
"First of all," she whispered to Shawn, "the world is not filled with evil. The majority of the world is good; evil just makes the bigger impact. Second, we all have our time to die. God knows when we are supposed to go, even if it is at the age of 16. We all die some time."
"We're dying since the day we were born," Shawn put in.
"Yes," she said flatly, "but you are living at the same time."
The ceremony concluded and the casket was taken back out to the lobby for people to say their good byes.
"I see my mom," she said as Shawn walked her towards the lobby, his wife still crying with her mother. He looked up and saw familiar looking woman staring down at the closed casket. "Good bye Shawn," she said taking a step forward. "I look forward to seeing you again."
The girl ran off and gave her mother a huge hug. At times like these a parent wants nothing more than to hold their child close and wish that they could stay like that forever. Shawn went back to his own wife and children wanting nothing more than to just be there with them.
He gave his wife a hug and stroked her hair.
"You are too good to me, ya know that," she told him as they got in line to pay their last respects. Some of Anie's friends made a collage of pictures and set out some of her favorite things. It was taking a while for everyone to go threw them.
He looked at his son sitting in his older cousin's lap on the other side of the lobby. He hoped that one day he was not looking at pictures of his own children at their funerals.
"Hun, who was the girl sitting with us during the service?" he asked his wife. "She looked like someone we know, but I can't put my finger on it."
She looked at him. "What girl? It was us and my parents. The seat next to you was empty."
He opened his mouth to question this as they stopped in front of the table. His eyes went wide as the truth had hit him like a load of bricks. There, staring back at him was the girl in the white tank top and jeans. It was her school picture from last year.
All this time, he had been talking to Anie as she found her mother once again.
A/N: Never forget the ones you love and live each day like it will be your last, because one day, it will be.