Chapter 9
"The Preparations Begin"
It was already two days after the crash before the bodies of those from Pan Am 103 had arrived from the fields of southwest Scotland. When I had gotten the news, Mr. and Mrs. Blake allowed me to take them in the Mystery Machine down to JFK Airport and collect Daphne's body, which was one of the first one to be taken off of the Pan Am cargo jet.
"You'll be home soon, Daphne," I whispered to the wooden casket containing her remains as Mrs. Blake broke down sobbing again. I must say that the drive back to Coolsville was one of the longest in my life. I knew that this was the start of Daphne's final farewell and I had to prepare to say goodbye to my soul mate.
When we arrived back in Coolsville that night, the lights of the Christmas decorations were flashing bright all over the town, but when we arrived at the Tripp funeral home, the only lights greeting us were the flickering candles in the windows. As we arrived, we saw Daniel, the funeral director waiting outside for us.
"Hello, George, hello Elizabeth," said the grey haired man, stepping over towards us and hugging Mr. and Mrs. Blake. "I am very sorry this had to happen to you at a time like this."
The parents stayed silent at those words, silently acknowledging what was said to them. We then allowed the funeral employees to bring the casket into the back of the funeral home. Once Mr. and Mrs. Blake had calmed down, Daniel then brought us into the funeral home and into his office. As for why we knew Daniel so well was because he had also done the funeral for all of Daphne's grandparents when we were just teenagers. However, it turns out that Daphne was not the only one from Pan Am 103 who would be memorialized.
"You know, you are not the only ones from Lockerbie who are in our care now," said Daniel, pulling up papers for Mr. and Mrs. Blake to sign. "We have about three other families as well as your own that are planning to bury their sons and daughters through us."
"Can we have the ability to have Daphne's service this week?" asked Mr. Blake, looking down at the several forms that he and his wife had to fill out.
"Of course, you can," replied Daniel. "Two of the families haven't even received the bodies of their loved ones yet and the other is planning on have their loved one's remains cremated."
He then sat back in his chair and cleaned his glasses before Mr. Blake handed him the forms containing all of the information needed to confirm what needed to be done for the service. However, Daniel still needed to know an important piece of information.
"Now, this may sound a bit personal," he said, placing the forms on the left side of his desk. "But, I need to know what you want your daughter to be buried in. My past experiences with you recall that you always do open caskets and is there any particular outfit of Daphne's that people liked to see her in?"
We were all silent for a moment and it wasn't until a moment later that I broke the silence thinking of the outfit that Daphne always wore on our adventures together.
"She did have a purple dress that she always wore on our mysteries," I said, handing Daniel a picture of Daphne in her favorite purple dress, pink pantyhose, purple shoes, and green scarf. "I think Daphne would have always wanted to be buried in it."
"Daphne always wore purple and green colors," added Mr. Blake. "She was you might say, the most fashion savvy in our family."
"I'm not surprised at that," remarked Daniel, writing down what needed to be written down. "You raised four beautiful daughters, George and Elizabeth, and there was something about Daphne that always struck a chord with me."
"In what way?" asked Mrs. Blake.
"It's just that Daphne was always not afraid to show the true woman underneath her delicate nature," replied Daniel. "I've always been a fan of her show Coast to Coast because she was a fearless individual who was not afraid to tackle any major story that came her way. What was she majoring in?"
He turned his attention over to me and I tried to come up with the words to answer his question.
"She and I were both majoring in Political Science," I replied. "Daphne was aiming to become a journalist for NBC News and I was aiming to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Just then, I saw Daniel write down what I was saying on a piece of paper before handing it over to me. It was almost as if he knew what his nomination for saying the eulogy was going to be.
"What is this for?" I remarked, looking down at what Daniel had written to me.
"Personally, given the fact that you were Daphne's closest friend," replied Daniel. "I think you should be the one who gives the eulogy."
"We already agreed on that, Daniel," said Mr. Blake. "Frederick had always wanted to spend the rest of his life with our daughter and it would be fitting if he was the one who told everyone about who Daphne really was."
So, we continued to sit with Daniel and make the plans for Daphne's funeral which would be taking place two days after Christmas since the funeral home was closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In the days to come, all of Daphne's family and friends came into Coolsville to remember the life of a young woman whose life was cut so tragically short by a terrorist bomb.
So many lives were destroyed on the longest day of the year in the skies over Scotland and thirty six of them were from one of the premiere schools in the country. Mrs. Blake didn't react like some the mothers screaming on the floor of JFK Airport the moment they learned of the disaster, but she mourned in private surrounded by those who loved Daphne.
Now, the time would soon come for all of us to remember Daphne Anne Blakeā¦
