I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look. The earliest date I’ve come across was in 1856.”
“Oh, wow.” Nancy’s eyes widen.
“I feel weird reading them—these are personal thoughts—but I want to find out who they belonged to and contact their families. I’m sure they would love to have them.”
“I’m sure they would.”
“I offered to help her read some of them, but she’s being stingy,” Lindsay says, her eyes dancing teasingly.
“I just feel like this is something I need to do on my own,” Molly says.
I squeeze her shoulders, pulling her closer. She looks up at me, and I lean down for a kiss. She tastes like the mocha-flavored coffee she had this morning.
“Steaks and hotdogs are done,” Douglas announces, setting a platter down on the table.
“Kids!” Molly and Lindsay yell at the same time. They both look at each other and laugh. “Come grab a towel. We’re ready to eat.”
The water hose, which Gemma had possession of, gets dropped to the ground, and they run full blast toward the patio.
“Don’t forget to turn off the spigot,” I tell Gray.
He makes a sharp turn to the corner of the house, twists the knob to the water hose, and continues his mad dash toward the table. Molly hands him, Gemma, and Aubree each a towel while I begin loading up Gray and Gemma’s plates. Joe does the same for Aubree. We all sit around the big patio table, talking and eating, enjoying the nice day and the company. The kids giggle at the stories Douglas and Nancy tell of Molly and Lindsay’s childhood. Joe talks about work, and Lindsay asks Douglas and Nancy what stops are planned for their cruise.
Once I’m finished eating, I sit back in my chair, leaning my arm across the back of Molly’s and fingering a lock of her hair. We’ve had numerous days like today, but they never get old. Molly and her family are very close. That bond has always extended to me. It’s amazing to see how each member can have different connections to each other.
My family is close, but whereas Molly’s is natural, mine is born more out of fear of the unknown. My older brother, Christian, died when he was nine years old. One evening, we were up in my room playing while our parents were downstairs talking. Christian left the room to go grab something. Mom and Dad found him at the bottom of the stairs a few minutes later. I was only four at the time, so my memory is fuzzy and only comes in bits and pieces. I remember Christian leaving the room because we were missing a piece of the race track we were building. He went to his room to look for it. I remember hearing him scream, and then it being abruptly cut off, followed by several thumping noises. I was getting up to see what the sound was when Mom screamed. When I made it to the top of the stairs, she was hunched over Christian, and my dad had the phone pressed to his ear.
The doctors say the vertebrae in his neck was severed, which made it impossible for him to breathe on his own. He coded on the way to the hospital, but the EMTs were able to bring him back. Along with not being able to breathe on his own, he was paralyzed, and the PET scans showed no brain activity.
It took Mom and Dad two months to make the decision to take Christian off life support. I don’t remember much about those days, except hearing Mom crying at night in their room, my father’s gentle voice trying to soothe her.
Later, I was told the night Christian died, Mom and Dad were in the living room discussing a surprise trip to Disney World for him and me.
Because of Christian’s death, my parents, especially Mom, were very clingy and strict when I was growing up. Even now, Mom calls every other day to check to see how Molly, the kids, and I are doing. It’s like if she doesn’t, she thinks something will happen.
Nancy slapping her hands on the table, pulls me from my thoughts. “Who wants dessert? I’ve got banana pudding and my special strawberry pie.”
I swear I hear a collective sigh, and despite the fact that we’ve all just eaten, there may have been some grumbling stomachs. Anyone who’s had Nancy’s banana pudding and strawberry pie, would say they are to die for.
A chorus of “I do, I do’s!” come from