MOST IMPORTANT DAY: III She avoided her parents eyes and walked into the building. But her lips were trembling.
She saw the sad face of her cousin Darlene. She walked over to her Aunt Jeanette.
"Debbie! Glad to see ya!"
"It's good to see you even though..."
"I know." Aunt Jeanette's eyes were full of tears.
"Uncle William!" Debbie exclaimed.
"It's good to see you, my niece!" He smiled through his tears. He came over and hugged her.
"It's good to see you, too," she giggled.
Was that her cousin Brigette, whom she had not seen in so long?
"You look...good," Debbie said, even though Brigette's face was red with crying. Her blond hair was pulled back in a French braid and pinned up. She looked as Canadian French as they all were.
Her sisters went into the smaller room. But she did not want to go, not yet. She went into the bathroom, where Sherri was blowing her nose.
"I just want it to be over," she started to cry.
"It's better when you go up and see her. She looks strong." Sherri consoled her and walked away.
Debbie stood outside the funeral home. She began to talk about New York, her job, although she did not know this man beside her. {Foreshadowing of Future Things...} {sic} And then, Liz came. Liz smiled in recognition of her friend's long-winded discussions about the trials of New York.
"I don't want to go in there. Do you?" she said to Liz.
"Yes," Liz insisted.
"I better go in before my father says, Why are you standing there?" Debbie mimicked her father's firm, authoritative tone.
They walked together to the flower-filled room; the bleeding hearts, pink carnations and white mums. There she rested, among the flowers, in a pink lace dress. They kneeled before her, studying the flowers.
"She looks...strong," Debbie held out her fist in a fighting gesture. The strength that was never apparent in the life of her delicate, petite Memere, now revealed itself. Every illness that came her way, she had conquered with her faith and determination. Now, it was time.
The priest came and said a few words to a roomful of softly closed eyes. The crowded room now grew quiet, except for the purring of the air conditioner. Debbie drifted in and out of his sermon.
"...The most important day of her life is not her birthday, or her wedding day, but today."
No, it's not. The most important day of my life will be the day I get married, Debbie thought to herself.
"...Today marks the beginning of a promise. The promise of eternal life..."
Debbie did not agree with him, but thought the sermon was beautiful none-the-less.
"I wanted you to go to lunch but it's just immediate family," she told Liz with tears in her eyes.
"I understand," Liz said. "I owe you a letter."
"Oh, you do, don't you?" Debbie tried to joke half-heartedly.
"Are they going to take her picture?"
Debbie's eyes widened. "N...No."
"Well, with all those elaborate flowers."
"Some people do that. I don't think they do here, I don't think they'd like that. Its OK for some people, but not me. It's just not my cup of tea." Debbie concluded, ending on a jovial note.
Liz smiled. "I mean, after everyone is gone."
What an odd custom. Why show a body after someone is gone?
MORE TOMORROW...Or I may make you wait until Monday!
