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The ringing cell phone startled John. As he opened his eyes, he remembered that he was in Janet’s bed and that she was gone.
“This is not a bad dream. She is really gone,” John thought to himself.
He looked at the cell phone, which had an unfamiliar number. John clicked to answer it.
“Hello,” John says.
“Hi Mr. Remington. I hope I am not bothering you. My name is Tim, and I am a friend if Janet’s. I was wondering how she is doing. Angie gave me your number I hope you do not mind,” Tim said.
“Hi Tim and thank you for calling. Janet passed away yesterday. I should have told Angie,” John said.
“Mr. Remington, I am so sorry for your loss. I can tell Angie for you. Janet was an amazing person. She inspired me to accept me for who I am and to not let anyone put me down for being gay. I remembered when I first met her, a couple guys were calling me horrendous names and threw my books on the ground. Janet came over and helped me pick my books up. She told me that anyone who wants to judge me for being different can F off,” Tim said.
John thanked Tim for the kind words. John and Tim said goodbye to each other, and John hung up.
John called the funeral home. He called the same funeral home that did such an amazing job with Michelle’s services. He scheduled an appointment for that afternoon, so John could clean himself up and get food in him. John was familiar with setting up funeral services, as he did for his dad, Ashley, and Michelle. John gathered up a pink dress for Janet to wear. He looked at the dress and remembered her wearing it during her sophomore dance. Her and her friends came back to the house after the dance, and they all had a dance party with pizza. John even joined them. He remembered her laugh and began to cry.
A few hours later, John arrived at the funeral home. He was welcomed by the funeral director that helped him with Michelle’s services. John asked for the same package as Michelle’s and paid the total. John asked the funeral director is Janet can be buried with Te Te. The funeral director nodded as he gently accepted Te Te from John, along with Janet’s pink dress. John and the funeral director scheduled the services for later in the week.
John thanked the funeral director and left quickly, needing fresh air. As John was breathing in the cool September air, his phone buzzed. During his appointment, his phone buzzed several times. John reached in his pocket and took out his phone to silence it. He found that he had fifty missed calls and fifty voicemails. John did not want to talk to a bunch of people, so he ignored the voicemails.
John arrived at his house to find Mike sitting in his front porch. Flowers, fruit baskets, sympathy cards, and pictures of Janet surrounded him.
“What is all of this?” John asked.
“Seems like Janet has a lot of people who care about her,” Mike said.
“I wish she was here to appreciate it,” John said as he walked past Mike to unlock the door.
“I’m sure somewhere up there she appreciates it,” Mike said while looking up at the sky.
Mike helped John bring in the flowers, fruit baskets, sympathy cards, and pictures of Janet into the house. Mike told John that Angie said she will do the picture boards for the services, which John appreciated. John sent her a text thanking her for her help and that he would send some pictures over for the board.
After bringing in the gifts, Mike and John sat down and ate some fruit while picking readings for Janet’s services. John picked Mike, Betty, and Angie to do the readings. John asked Mike, Tim, and Janet’s basketball coach from high school to serve as pallbearers with him, which they all happily agreed to help.
John and Mike spent the rest of the evening reading sympathy cards and going through pictures of Janet. They shared laughs and tears reminiscing over stories of Janet. John told Mike about his run in with his demon as they eat pizza. Mike told John that in these challenging times, he was proud of John. Mikes looked at his watch and realized the late time. John reassured Mike that he was fine and was going to get some much-needed rest. Mike left and John was alone.