Scotland was such a beautiful place. Rolling hills, wild trees - so much natural beauty that was slowly slipping away from the rest of the world. Spending most of his time living among the concrete towers and pavemented grounds, Jonathan had almost forgotten the wonders of his home. It lingered in the back of his mind, infecting his memories. To be back here used to be a normal feeling.
The sunlight streamed in through the stained glass windows of the little crematorium. He stood before people he knew well, some he had grown up with, others only recently touched by his mother's warm heart. Drawing in a shaky breath, his eyes fell upon one woman stood in the rows, her head bowed low.
"For years now, Martha has stood in the shadow of death. She avoided its dark clutches so many times, and it seemed she'd never loose her will to live. I'm not going to reminisce on who she was - the woman we all knew and loved - because she always used to tell me that when her time came she didn't want people to remember her life as it had been, but more of what she wanted to take from life."
His brown eyes wandered over all again. His brother stood tall, shoulders proud with his wife standing next to him, weeping softly into her tissue. In the row behind them, he could see Isobel curled into Reuben's side, crying. Christian wasn't crying yet, but there were tears in his eyes. Little Ainsley and Jake had been left at a friend's with Daniel's little boy. They were still too young for funerals. Jake was probably old enough, but he'd been left to take care of his sister. The children had protested (Jake had, but Jon could tell in Ainsley's eyes she wanted to come), but Jon stood firm with his decision.
"My mother took all that she could get. They never had much when I was growing up, but she never let it get her down. She could make the best of any situation, always telling me that while the grass on the other side of the fence looked greener, our grass was just that; our grass. No one could take what we had away from us. If anyone dared, my mother gave them what we all know as 'a right good seeing to'."
He could hear Daniel's short laugh at the comment.
"I never thought that she would go. Strong and forceful, it seemed she'd go out with a bang. But she did it all in her own style. I don't feel as if she has truly gone because she touched everyone she met and left her own mark upon them. In my wife, Madeline, I can see some of my mother in her, and in all four of her children."
He bowed his head. "Gone but not forgotten - just like she wanted."
Moving from the front, he slipped back to where Madeline stood and linked his fingers with her's. Daniel moved from his spot and took the spot his older brother had left behind.
"My brother said more than I think he's said in his entire life," he joked, earning a smile from Jon. "My Mum never complained he was a quiet kid. Were it not for him, I doubt I'd be able to stand here and say anything at all. Now, we'll play one of the songs she demanded we play at her funeral, otherwise she was going to come back and haunt us. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you - Bat out of Hell." The music started playing up, and Daniel shook his head. "Always knew she was bonkers," he said, moving away from the front.
Madeline turned to Jon while the people watched the coffin move out of view. "You can cry if you need to."
With a smile, he leaned over and kissed her. "I don't need to. I've made my peace with her death before coming here. I was there when she died. She said that crying over her death was something that people shouldn't do. Don't cry because she's gone, smile because she lived."
No comments:
Post a Comment