The Goodbye Ch. 02

"He wanted you all to be a family again. I have this on video on my phone if you don't believe me. He didn't want you to lose both parents at the same time." With that, Mary put her arm around my shoulders and I quietly sobbed. I didn't know if I reached them. I hoped to god that I did.

After a few minutes Sue spoke to me. "I honestly don't know what to say."

"Sue, and the rest of you?" I looked at them to get their attention. "One of the things I learned when I was getting sober again, was that the grieving had to come out. Sometimes we have a target that gives us permission to be angry at. I was my own target for quite a while. I think that your mother has been that target for you.

"Be angry that she was weak, be angry that she was not there for your father. But we all are human and weak. Right now you've lost both parents. One died and the other you hate.

"Your mother did some bad things, but she's not evil. She raised you guys right. All of you have screwed up, not as bad a she did, but you're still young." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chuck squirm a little. There was a drug possession charge when he was in college. By luck, it was a small amount and the judge tossed it out.

"This is not an answer for you to have now or even this month. This is something I want you to think about. I will always be available on the phone and Mary volunteered too. She's close enough to visit over coffee. Please think about this. I know that's it hard for you all."

It got quiet and what Mary and I said hung over them. It was time to leave. Almost on queue, each of us started getting up from our chairs and put on our coats. We gathered before the entrance to the restaurant to say our goodbyes. Hugs and thank yous went all the way around and we left. By morning, Mary dropped me off at Midway for my cheap flight home.

Over the next couple of months there were calls and emails from the four of them, and Catherine too. It was 10 months later when I got a family Christmas card. It was taken at Chuck's house on the stairs in his foyer. Carefully arranged were two young children, their parents and their aunts and Uncles, and the Grandmother and mother. All smiling.