Twenty-fourth Embarrassment
bNORA:/b
We ended up cremating my dad. Or more of, what was left of my dad.
My mom had called the organ people telling them to leave my dad's eyes in. They had grumbled and groaned, but they agreed to keep my dad's eyes in his skull. When I head this, something inside me settled for some reason, and I no longer had the autopsy nightmares that had haunted me for the past week.
We had a nice memorial service for daddy, too. It was more of a party, but it was similar to the ones that people have after a funeral... only we didn't have a funeral. After an hour I lost track of how many people gave me their condolences.
Gustav didn't come to the service. My mom had invited him and I asked for him to come, but he said that it wouldn't feel right. He never got to meet my dad. He said that he wanted to give me the chance to see other people and to spend some family time. I found that I couldn't argue to him about that. He said that he would go out and look around, seeing as is he doesn't come to America everyday.
Despite the service being about my dad, it was actually pretty fun. I saw a lot of people here that I haven't seen in a long time, mostly colleagues of my dad, even my dads boss. Some nurses that knew my dad really well came, too. It was great to see how many people loved my dad and how many people would miss him. The service allowed for a sort of family reunion or sorts as well, giving Fifi, Anna and I a chance to see relatives that we normally would never see. After the service, we drove home in a comfortable silence. When we got home, Gustav hadn't returned yet, and I wasn't too surprised. After all, we were in California.
"Hey girls," my mom called, and I looked up to where my mom was. "Come here, I have something to give you all." Feet pitter patter over into the living room, where my mom was sitting on a couch. In front of her, she has 4 small urns.
"Mom, is that..." I start, and she nods.
"Yes," she says, her eyes glossy. "These are your fathers ashes." A special kind of silence fills the room, and I sit uncomfortably in the Chase lounge. "Before he had his first stroke... he said that he wanted his ashes to be spread between the four of us. So thats what I did. So here, Anna," she said, handing Anna a small pink one. It had a picture of Anna and Dad on the front, and I held back my tears. "Fifi, honey," she said, handing Fifi her green one. Like Anna's, it had a picture of her and dad on the front. Mom looked up at me, and I felt tears slip down. I let out a shaky sigh, and I nodded. "Nora, baby," mom said softly. I shakily stood up, and I carefully grasped my urn. There, a picture of dad and I sat on the front, just like my sisters. It was before I went to college, and her was kissing my cheek, a smile hidden beneath it. I of course had a flushed face, and I looked like I was about to cry at any moment. I looked down at the plaque beneath the picture.
iMark James Bell
September 28 1960-November 18 2010
"...and remember, Nora-Badora. Breathe."/i
I let out a small laugh as I saw my dad's all to famous words of advice to me. iBreathe./i I sat down on the chair, shakily wiping away my tears that were rapidly falling down.
"Th-Tha-" my voice cut out on me, and I took a deep breathe in. "Thank y-you, mom," I cry, and she nods her head. I hear Anna sniffle a little as she hugs her urn, and Fifi just stares absently at the picture, unable to imagine that our father was inside of it.
Eventually I made my way back to my room. I gingerly put my dad on my bed next to me, leaning him against a wall. I wrapped myself in the blanket that he gave me. I felt tears roll down my face, and I thought back to my dad.
i"Dad," I started, and he looked over to me. We were lying down on the grass, looking up at the stars. The next day I would be going to college, and we were spending some last minute father-daughter quality time. "What's something that you want to do before you die?" I asked him. He sighed.
"I would like to get a dinosaur tail..." he said, and I laughed. "Seriously?" he asked me, and I nodded. "Well, I would like to go to Germany again. I haven't been back there since I came to the states after college, and I do miss it there. I'd like to see my old house again, and such," he said, and I nodded.
"We should go together then," I said, and he looks over at me. "I'm almost fluent," I told him, and he takes that into consideration. He turns back to the stars.
"After college," he says, and I smile. I hold my hand out to him to shake it. He grasps it, shaking it. "We'll take the whole family," he said, and I raised my upper lip in disapproval. "If you don't get a B in math," he continues, and I smile giddily.
"Well, I guess I'll be working my ass off in math then," I sighed, and he laughed.
"You bet'cha." We sat in silence for a little bit.
"Maybe I'll go before hand and scout it out," I said. "That way I won't get hopelessly lost... just lost," I said with a smile, and he laughs./i
I thought back to this conversation, and I suddenly had an idea come to mind. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. The more I thought dad would like it. I grabbed the urn, and I grabbed a light sweatshirt. I walked into the living room, and I found my mom still sitting on the table. I placed my urn on the kitchen counter before going in.
"Hey mom," I said softly, and she pulled herself out of her thoughts.
"Yeah honey," she asked, and I smiled.
"Can I borrow the car? I have some things to do."
When I got the car keys to my moms Toyota, I grabbed the urn and hurried out the door. I climbed into the drivers seat of the car, placing my dad in the passengers. "Gotta put on your seatbelt, dad," I murmured, clicking the seat belt on around the urn. I patted the top, clicking my own seatbelt in. "Now," I said, with a smile. I turned to ignition on, and I drove out of the driveway. "Let's see what we can do about that trip."
I hear a knock on my bedroom door, and I jerk myself out of my thoughts, my fingers still fiddling with the small glass vial that hung on a silver chain on my neck.
"Yeah?" I called. The door opened, and Gustav peeked in.
"Hey there," I said with a smile. I stretched my legs a little before bringing them up to my chest. Gustav joined me on the bed, sitting on the other side of the urn.
"Is this your dad?" he asks me, nodding to the urn. I nod.
"Yeah, thats him... same here," I said, holding up the small glass vial in my fingers. He nodded in understanding. I placed the vial down under my shirt, the cool glass making my skin tingle. I could feel my dads energy radiating off it, and it made me feel better.
"How was the service," he asked me, and I smile slightly.
"It was good, but listen to this," I said, and he turns to me expectantly. "I have an idea." He looked at me, waiting for me to continue. I smiled excitedly, feeling anticipation bubbling inside of me. "I want to go back to Germany."
bW/bhat bO/bbscure bW/borlds!~Twenty-fourth Embarrassment, END