With Beth's assistance, Jo had the meatloaf, potatoes, and peas ready in half an hour. Mr. and Mrs. March came home an hour and a half after that. They both looked exhausted.
"Thank you so much for fixing dinner," Mrs. March said to her daughters.
"You're welcome," Jo and Beth replied.
"The wake will be tomorrow, and the funeral's the day after," Mr. March announced.
"Does Meg know?" asked Jo.
"I called her on the way home," said Mrs. March.
After dinner, the first thing Jo wanted to do was to call Fritz. Luckily, he answered right away.
"My Great Aunt Harriet just died," Jo told him.
"Ach! You have my deepest sympathies," he replied. "It is always hard to lose someone you love."
"The wake's tomorrow." Jo took a deep breath. "I know you never met her, but will you meet me there? I'd feel a whole lot better if you did."
"Of course I will come," Fritz assured her.
Jo found that her hands were sweating profusely as she entered the funeral home with her family the next day. She felt uncomfortable in the presence of the dead bodies of people she'd known in life. Even her experience as a wartime nurse in a hospital hadn't diminished her unease. She hadn't known any of those young men personally.
The lights were turned down low, and soft organ music played. There lay Great Aunt Harriet, dressed in a rose-colored pantsuit. She looked much as she had in life, but paler and waxier. She wore lipstick to match her outfit, and not one of her snow white hairs was out of place.
"It's weird to see someone just lying there perfectly still, isn't it?" Beth whispered. Jo nodded woodenly, with a shudder.
Meg and John entered the room. Meg hugged her mother, then Jo, then Beth.
"How are the twins?" asked Beth.
"They're fine! They're with Rosalyn. You know how her kids like to play with them."
True to his word, Fritz arrived just a new minutes later.
"I'm so glad to see you!" Jo cried as they embraced.
"As I am always glad to see you, although this time, under unfortunate circumstances."
"You remember my sister Meg and her husband John, right?"
"Of course I do." Fritz shook hands with them both. "I hope you are all well."
"We are, thank you," said John.
Next to arrive were Teddy and Sybil.
"How's your grandfather?" Jo asked Teddy.
"About the same."
Jo's mind wondered back to the barbecue at the Bohmke's and the startling revelations she'd met with there. She recalled that Fritz had been ill and concerned about spreading germs. What more might she have learned if he'd been there? she couldn't help but wonder.
She knew it wasn't the proper time and place to bring the subject up, but still, she wondered.
"How are your folks?" she asked Sybil, instead.
"They're all right," Sybil replied. "My father's hearing is going. His doctor told him he'll need a hearing aid soon."
"My grandfather needed a hearing aid in his later years as well." Fritz's eyes got a faraway look. "Even after thirty years, I still miss him very much, and my grandmother as well.'
"Did they die close together?" asked Jo.
"Six months apart."
"That must have been so hard for you!"
"It was, and for Minna as well. She loved to bake cookies with our Oma."
Jo nodded, recalling her own fond memories with her grandparents."
Fritz attended the funeral the next day as well, and afterwards, everyone got together at the Marches for food and fellowship. Mr. March shared his memories of Great Aunt Harriet as he passed around an old photograph album.
"My Dad has an album like that too, with pictures of him and his family when he was little," Sybil remarked.
"Oh, can I see it? Please?" Jo asked.
"Well - sure, I guess so." Sybil was taken aback, puzzled by Jo's eagerness.
Fritz chuckled. "It seems Josephine has developed a passion for vintage photographs."
Several afternoons later, Jo and Sybil sat side by side on the Bohmke's sofa, looking through the aforementioned photograph album. At the front were photographs of Bohmke relatives whom Jo had never seen before, but later on were some of Werner and Sybille with Dieter and Martina at the home they'd shared. Even Werner's photographs of Buckinham Palace were there.
Jo had to gasp when she came to a photograph of Paul and Freddy with a beautiful baby girl. Elisabeth.
"I'm not sure who those kids are," said Sybil. "I think the Baumgartners must have sent that photo to my grandparents."
Jo looked through the rest of the album but didn't see any more photographs of people she recognized.
"Well, thanks for sharing that with me," she told Sybil.
"You're welcome, but I'm curious. Why did you want to see pictures of my Dad when he was little?"
"I'm doing research for a book I'm planning to write about German children during the World War II era and right afterwards," Jo lied. "I'm just trying to get a feel for what their clothing looked like, what kind of toys they played with, that kind of thing."
Sybil looked thoughtful. "I think my Dad has some books from his childhood packed up somewhere. Want me to ask him if you can see them?"
"Thanks anyway, but that's OK," Jo replied. "The photos were a great help." Especially the one of Paul, Freddy, and Elisabeth.