I was eighteen.
I was packing my stuff into boxes, getting ready to go to college, when Mom walked in.
"Trish?"
"Yeah Mom?" I loaded some more clothes into boxes, bobbing to the beat of the song blaring from the speakers. Then the music was gone, and Mom sat on the bed, patting the spot next to her. I obliged,
"When my Mom died she left me a necklace in her will, I've worn it almost everyday since then." She held said necklace in her hands, small, circular, it had little symbols on it, "You're going to college, and you'll be kinda far away," If Indiana University is that far away," And I want you to take it. To remind you of—of your Dad and I." She slipped it around my neck. I was awestruck, Mom had held onto that necklace for as long as I could remember, and now she's giving it to me?
"You're sure Mom?"
"Yes."
I slid my fingers over the smooth wood of the casket. It was hard to think Mom was gone, but it was the truth. The wake was over, and the parlor was almost empty, except for Dad and me, I had told my husband Connor to take the kids home, they didn't need to stay and fidget any longer. I looked over at Dad, feeling so sorry for him; I don't think he had grasped the fact that Mom was gone. I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder,
"Hey Trish." Madison wore a bright blue skirt and white shirt, "In honor of Abby." She had said,
"Hi Madison." She took my hand for the umpteenth time that day,
"You know how much your mother loved, don't you. She helped me through some of my toughest nights at Hartgrove…. It was because of you that she was able to love again." I blinked back more tears,
"What?"
"You were the one who made her go back, showed her it was ok to forgive him." Madison didn't call Henry by name anymore.
"Where's she going?" Madison asked, referring to the cremation my mother had specifically ordered in her will,
"Part of her is going to the lake where we went fishing, another is staying with Dad for when he gets cremated, and the last part is going to Harper's Island." Madison's ever-blue eyes grew wide,
"Why?"
"She grew up there, it was home. The island is growing again people are coming back. Almost forty years is enough for anyone to forget a news story. And she'll be near her parents, friends who died on the island. Its just…its right."
"And Jimmy?"
"He'll come live with me. There's no way I'll put him in a nursing home. Ever. Besides, Chloe and Sully love their grandpa. What are you going to do?"
"Well, Mom's gone, and Carter and I were never really close. Remember the tragedy support group I go to?" I nodded; they had lit up Madison's life like nothing else in the years after Shea's sudden death.
"They're going on a trip around the world, to seek spiritual guidance, to see famous landmarks, I have enough money from Grandpa's will…" I smiled,
"Well, I'm glad you came to say goodbye. My mom would've been glad." Madison shook her head and smiled like she had when we were younger,
"Oh, I'm not saying goodbye. I'll see her again by tomorrow. Goodbye Trish. I'll write." She swooped me into another hug and before I could say another word, strolled out the door. I had known her for twenty-three years and she still surprised me when she said stuff like that. I looked over at Dad. I hated watching him age, he was still young and healthy, mentally, but he wasn't able to do everything he wanted to with his grandkids, he was even having a hard time fishing now a days. He sat in one of the funeral home's comfy chairs, clutching Mom's favorite necklace, which had been her Mom's before her's, just staring into space.
"Dad?" I snapped him out of his reverie, "Dad, let's go home."
"Do we have to?" He asked, looking again at the casket,
"Yes Dad. We can't stay here forever. C'mon." I took his hand and helped him up; he walked over to the casket for one last goodbye. His eyes were red and watery, as he whispered something underneath his breath. Then he took my hand,
"Trish, she died in peace, that's all we could have asked for," He kissed my forehead, "Thank you." I led him out of the funeral home. Things would get better tomorrow.
***
I smoothed my pretty blue skirt as I sat on the little bench outside the funeral home. The sun was setting behind some big trees. I loved nights like this. I closed my eyes as another gust of wind wove through my hair,
"Did you tell her?" I jumped, to my left in a relaxing repose sat Abby, young Abby, as I'd last seen her on Harper's Island,
"Abby, I didn't expect to see you so soon!"
"Its nice to see you too, Madison," she smiled, "But did you tell her?"
"Yes, I did. Don't worry." She breathed a sigh of relief,
"Thank you Madison." She got up and began to walk away,
"Wait!" I called, running up to her, "Are you and everyone else…still gonna be around?"
"Once and a while, maybe," My shoulders fell, and she took my hands, "Madison, I think the fact that you've lived with us so long, may have hurt you more than it helped you…we're sorry. But you need to live your life without us." My eyes welled up, I didn't want them to leave, they had been a crutch, a way for me to cope since I was nine. What was I going to do without them?
"I think you should go on that trip, you'll have so much fun, you'll forget about us." Forget about them? How was I going to forget about everything I had seen? She touched my cheek,
"You can do it Madison." And she was gone. I felt a sense of inspiration, of hope. I hopped onto my bike, my preferred mode of transportation, and rode off into the sunset, as cliché as that is. Beginnings come from endings. Everything would work.