EPILOGUE
Senza famiglia sei perso.
One Month Later
The weather had improved considerably since the unexpected blizzard, but there was still a frosty chill that wafted in from Memory Lake. Winter clung to the earth and sky and wasn’t about to let go, but the sun was shining defiant and bright as if to say have patience, spring will come and soon the land will be filled with flowers and lushness. Hope filled the air. And it was a perfect day to celebrate life. Two lives in fact.
Jinx bent down and secured the plaque in the earth next to a hydrangea bush that, defying nature, still sprouted some flowers as blue as the sky. She stood up and joined Helen, Joyce, and Alberta, who was holding Lola in her arms.
Jinx read the plaque aloud. “Carmela and Nettie. You gave love a name.”
No one needed to say another word. They were all thinking the same thing, that it was wonderful that Carmela and Nettie were together, openly and eternally. They were also thinking how wonderful it was that the four of them—Alberta, Jinx, Helen, and Joyce—were together as well as family and as friends.
As Alberta’s mother, Elena, would always say, Senza famiglia sei perso, which means ‘without family you are lost.’ They knew how true that was and they also knew it would never pertain to them because they would always have each other. Just as Carmela would always have Nettie.
Alberta held Lola close to her heart and was thankful that her Aunt Carmela, who had once been lost to her, who for so long was a mystery, had been found. Her truth had been revealed and she no longer had to live in secrecy and silence and loneliness.
The clouds separated and the sun burst through, creating a golden halo over the lake, and suddenly Alberta realized with a full and grateful heart that because of her aunt’s last act of kindness, leaving her money and her home to Alberta, that Carmela made sure her niece would never be lost. She made sure that Alberta would never have to live alone or in silence ever again. Carmela knew that she was giving Alberta more than wealth, she knew she was giving her life.
Alberta looked out at the majestic expanse of Memory Lake, the same lake her aunt had looked at with wonder and amazement, and she mouthed two words that she trusted in her heart that her Aunt Carmela would hear: Thank you.