Eddie woke earlier than his alarm clock. Morning had broken, but the sky was dark and overcast. The house was silent.
An hour later he had showered, shaved and was throwing the last of his belongings into his suitcase. For some minutes he had been aware of the silence now broken. He had heard his sister arrive and tantalizing smells from the kitchen told him that his mother was cooking a very special breakfast.
Bracing himself against his inner pain of parting from these special people who had given him a family, he walked out with a smile and “Good morning. Something smells great!” He noticed the tears in Kate’s eyes as she endeavoured to hide them with a smile and, “Sprucing yourself up, eh, to impress your new Bishop!”
“Of course!” laughed Eddie. “You know how particular Bishop Levitt is when it comes to clothes!”
They all laughed, knowing it was often said in Church circles that Mark Levitt cared more about the health of his garden then he did about the clothes he wore.
Breakfast turned out to be a happy family get-together rather than a last meal. Conversation flowed freely among the four – a few memories, an odd joke, future plans, a family meal each would remember with joy. Time passed very quickly. Eventually Eddie realized he would need to leave soon – he was to meet his new bishop, Mark Levitt, at the Bishop’s House in Forbes mid-afternoon. He also knew that his father and sister should have left for work by now.
“No hurry!” they chorused.
“This is not a final farewell, you know.” He looked at each. “We will come and go between here and Bre. And we’ll still do things together. You will always be my family and the special people in my life and I’ll always be very grateful for it.”
Kate’s arm stole around Eddie’s shoulder while Tony squeezed Margie’s hand as her tears flowed.
“Okay… Let’s go!” Eddie rose slowly and retrieved his bags from his room. With his father’s help these were soon packed into his car – the VW Beetle his parents had bought for him – his choice.
They all knew that they would always be a family, that they would often share time together, but they also knew that, for each, life would never be the same. With hugs, prayers, blessings and wishes, Eddie was on his way to the unknown future. As he steered on to the Highway and headed west, he allowed the pent-up tears to flow.
The clouds began to break and the sun to filter through as he began the climb to the Blue Mountains. Had he made the greatest mistake? Would he be accepted? Accepted? There was no doubt that he was accepted by his family and always had been from earliest memory. Suddenly, earliest memory went back – back even further than belonging to the family he would always call his own. Not often, but occasionally this memory would surface but, invariably, immediately quenched. But today was different. Today was beginning another chapter of his life. What lay ahead he did not know. What lay behind – yes, he was aware of most of his past life.