Tami and Julie stood on the front porch watching Matt and Eric walk down the street. Julie was crying as Tami took her hand and sat her down on the couch.

"I…what…I need to do something. I need to do something for Matt. What do I do? I need to help him." Julie made a move to get up but Tami gently pushed her back down.

"You're helping him just by being with him. Sitting with him at his house during the wake. Inviting him over to dinner tonight. Even telling him he didn't have to eat if he didn't feel like it. And your dad is making sure he gets home okay. But….honey this is such a hard thing. I think it's the hardest thing we go through in life, when someone we love, a member of our family dies."

"But Matt said that he hates his dad and they sure didn't seem to care much for each other when his dad came back a couple years ago. He just said that he hates him."

"Yes, he did, but he loves him. In his heart, in his soul he loves him. And if you noticed, Matt also hates things that other people do. I'm sure he hates some things that your dad has put him through or made him do, like when we were going to move to Austin. He hates some things about his grandmother even though he loves her dearly. And he hates that he hates those things and people. So like he said, he tried to take that and focus it on his dad instead of letting it out on the people he cared about. Not that he didn't care about his dad but," Tami sighed, "it's a complicated thing. Matt hasn't had the easiest time growing up with his Grandmother raising him while his parents were…"

"They abandoned him."

"You could say that, but I think there's more to it than that, don't you? Some people meet and hang out and fall in love and get married but then they find out that well, it's doesn't entirely fit together for them. So they separate. Sometimes they've had kids and sometimes they haven't. Matt was lucky that his Grandmother was there and that she's the person she is. And you know what, I don't know what to do right now, really. And neither does your Dad. Besides just being there for him and loving him. And sometimes you can do things for him. Like that funeral director." Tami shook her head. "Jackass."

"Something happened at the funeral home this afternoon?"

Tami hesitated. "Well, it's a business like any other, but they can be just as….I guess slimy as car salesman, like Buddy Garrity, though he's more of a smooth talker than slimy. This guy was going on and on about special military caskets and cars to ride in to the funeral and Matt just sat there and….well, he had no idea what was going on, but why should he? I guess if you're in the military and you die, there's like a funeral bonus that they give the surviving family members. But Matt's dad's funeral was going to cost nearly eight thousand dollars," Julie's eyes widened, "and there was all this stuff like the cars I mentioned earlier and I could tell that Matt was a little over his head so I told him that he could go outside and I'd finish up with the director and I did." Tami sighed and pushed her hair back. "I'd like to see if Matt would see a grief counselor, but the ones in town are a little too spacey. " She looked at Julie. "Do you think he'd be okay with seeing a counselor or therapist?"

Julie chewed her lip. "I guess, but I think maybe you should talk with him about it first."

"Well, would it be okay if it was the three of us talking about it?"

"I….I don't know. I guess, but I don't want to just spring it on him. Maybe I could talk with him about it first. And….a counselor or therapist is like a hundred dollars an hour, right? I don't know that Matt or his family can afford that for long."

"Well, even just a couple of sessions can do some good and maybe I could talk with him sometimes."

"Mom, come on."

"I'm sorry, hon, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm not saying I would do it, just that it's a possibility."