Chapter 3: Legacies of Love

"Megan! Van! Harry! Darren! I'm home!" Good thing we had stopped at two kids or else the roll call would take longer than getting in the house did.

Darren and the boys should have been fixing dinner since I had had an all-day session of interviewing potential counselors and coaches for the upcoming summer of the camp for gifted kids we had established with Mrs. Donovan's bequest. Strangely, though, it was very quiet, and there was no activity in the kitchen, or anywhere else it seemed, until...

I followed the barely audible voices coming from the den downstairs, where I found my family crouched on the floor. What in the world? As I approached them I realized that they were circled around...MEGAN! OH MY GOD!

I knew immediately what was happening. Megan was 16 years old, a senior citizen cat, and had been slowing down in recent years. About six weeks before it had become obvious that she wouldn't be with us much longer. Our vet had assured us that she wasn't in any pain and, unless her condition changed, would most likely pass away peacefully in her sleep, so we decided we would keep her comfortable at home until that happened.

Darren looked up from where he was gently petting our fur-girl and stood to hug me. "Oh, Rhi. When we got back from the grocery store, she didn't come to greet us, and we found her like this. She's still...here, but she can't seem to move and her breathing is slowing down. I didn't call you because I knew you were on your way home and I didn't want to upset you while you were driving."

Harry and Van were looking at me with tear-stained cheeks as I kneeled to share my beloved friend's last few minutes of life. When I stroked her side as I had done thousands of times, she started to purr very quietly and opened her eyes to look at me.

"She was waiting for you, Mom," Van whispered, and Harry nodded, wrapping his arm around him to comfort his brother. Their relationship had improved so much over the years that they were now friends as well as siblings.

I gathered Megan and her blanket in my arms, and with our family surrounding us, she closed her eyes. Her purring gradually lessened to silence, and then her breathing slowed until it stopped completely.

After a minute, Darren tried to ease Megan's body from my grasp, but I just couldn't let her go - not yet.

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"I'm not asleep, Dare," I said quietly, opening my eyes as Darren started to shut our bedroom door after poking his head in to check on me a few hours later.

My husband came in and stroked my cheek, then asked with a sad smile, "How are you feeling, Rhi?" We both knew that he meant, "Lean on me, my dearest love," which of course, made tears start to well up in my eyes again.

I started, "Dare...I knew this was coming..."

"But it doesn't make it any easier, honey," he finished. "Sweetie, can the boys come in? They're so worried about you..."

"Of course they can, Dare...I wasn't thinking..." I apologized as I sat up and tried to straighten my hair and wipe my face. Darren put his hands up to stop me and said, "You look fine, Rhi, but even if you didn't, they understand that you're grieving. They don't expect you to look perfect." He kissed me gently, and then called, "Boys?"

Harry and Van must have been waiting right outside the door since they were holding my hands almost immediately. Van, my sensitive dreamer, started, "Mom, we're so sorry. We know how much you love Megan...and how much you'll miss her...we wish she didn't have to go..." he trailed off, fighting back his own tears.

My sweet and enthusiastic planner, Harry, picked up, "Just tell us what you want us to do, Mom. We'll find a place to bury Megan with respect and love. We can check with the vet, or look online, or..."

I smiled at Darren, grateful that we had produced two such generous souls. "Harry...Van...please sit with us..." I looked questioningly at Darren, who kissed my fingers, and said, "Only if you're ready, Rhiannon." I nodded, knowing that there wouldn't be a better moment to have this difficult discussion.

"Van...Harry...I love Megan very much, and I will miss her incredibly. And I know you will too. We have to remember that Megan lived a full life, and contributed so much to our family while she was here. But, it was her time, and she knew she needed to let go."

By this point, we were all in a circle on the bed, holding hands, the traditional means of comfort in the Criss family.

"You know that I adopted Megan before I met Dad, back when I was going to school in Wisconsin and living next door to Mrs. Donovan."

Both boys nodded through their tears as they had known about Mrs. D since they were little, but we hadn't fully explained her significance in our family's life...until now.

"Since you're nine and twelve, Dad and I feel that you are both old enough to understand what Mrs. Donovan means to our family, and I hope you will appreciate it even more, now that you can relate it to what Megan means to you."

Darren, sensing my emotional exhaustion, took over. "Mrs. Donovan was Mom's landlady first, but then they became friends, and finally they were members of each other's family. Mom didn't think she was as strong as she is..." my husband paused to kiss my fingers again, "...and Mrs. D helped her find the courage to look for true happiness."

"You mean like when she met you, Dad?" Van asked.

"Exactly, Van. Mrs. Donovan helped Mom realize that she is brave and smart and sweet and..."

"Stop, Dare," I insisted with a hint of a smile, then continued the story. "So, Dad and I discovered that we were meant for each other with Mrs. D's help, then we got married, and soon Harry joined us." Darren and I smiled at our older son.

"We were so happy, both with Harry and our jobs, but," I went on, "we knew we weren't where we ultimately wanted to be. Dad and I were trying to figure out how we could make the plans we had for our family and our careers possible," I paused and shared another smile with Harry.

"Then," Darren started again, "something shocking happened."

Harry broke in, "Mrs. D passed away, just like Megan."

Trying to hold back the tears that were so close to the surface, I nodded, and let Darren continue. "She did, Harry, but unlike with Megan, we weren't expecting it. Mrs. Donovan left something for us, though, and for a lot of other people. She left us a gift that allowed us to move toward our goals, which meant that Van joined the family..." We both smiled at our younger son before Darren went on, "...and I could start my own label to help other musicians achieve their dreams, and Mom could start the camp to help kids like you guys make their way in the world."

Van, looking thoughtful, inserted, "So, even though Megan - and Mrs. D - aren't here anymore, the things they left behind are... Is there a word for the...things?"

Harry smiled at his brother. "It's called a legacy, right? The gifts they gave us out of love, like the memories we have of them...and the money Mrs. D left for Mom and Dad...and your name, Van. Those are legacies...of love."

"You're absolutely right, Harry. Dad and I are so proud of both of you, and we love you so much. We know that all the people that you love will also give you legacies that will help you get to where you want to be in life."

"Can we still cry about missing Megan?" Van asked very quietly.

I pulled him into my arms for a fierce hug. "Of course you can, honey. You too, Harry," I said, grabbing my older son's hand as Darren hugged him tightly. "It takes time for that to go away, and sometimes it never does completely. As happy as I am when I remember Mrs. D, I still get sad that she's not around to see the result of what she did for us."

I moved one arm to encircle Harry, and Darren did the same with Van so we ended up in a group hug that lasted until we all had stopped crying. Our children never ceased to amaze me with the depth of their understanding and impressive insight.

But, when we all sat back and were holding hands again, they showed that they were perfectly normal kids as well.

Breaking the silence, Harry said, "I'm hungry."

Van asked, "Can we order pizza?"