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John opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling in his bedroom. Today was the day of Janet’s wake. John ran a list in his head of anything that was left to do. All John could think of was that he needed to write the eulogy and pick up his suit from the dry cleaners.
John got out of bed, showered, and got dressed. He went downstairs, made himself coffee, and ate a bowl of cereal. As he ate the cereal, he saw flashbacks of Janet sitting across the table from him smiling. John missed her a lot and knew the next time he sees her will be in her casket before the wake. John wiped his face from the oncoming tears, finished his coffee, and left the house to pick up his suit at the dry cleaners.
John paid the cashier and received his suit. As he drove home, John saw a stray dog digging for scraps in a dumpster before being brushed away by the store owner. The dog looked to John like a lab-mix. As all stray dogs were, the dog’s blonde fur was dirty. The dog looked at John and did a quick bark before running off. John laughed to himself. Janet would always ask John for a dog after seeing a therapy dog when she was ill, but John could not take care of both. John continued to drive.
John arrived home, laid his suit on the bed, and cleaned the house. John was hosting brunch after the funeral. Angie and Betty would be bringing over the food once the funeral was over. John was thankful Janet had such helpful friends, even though her relationship with Betty had a rough start.
John finished cleaning the house. His stomach was in knots, and he skipped dinner. He could picture Nancy nagging at him about eating. John then put on his suit and drove to the funeral home.
John arrived at the funeral home. This would be the first time he sees Janet since her death. John had to motivate himself to get out of the car. Beads of sweat dripped down John’s forehead, just as they did when he first met Janet at the foster home.
John shook hands with the funeral director at the front doors. With an hour before the wake, they had plenty of time to make sure the arrangement was to John’s expectation. John walked in to find several boards full of pictures and frames of Janet’s life. Pictures of her childhood, basketball games, trips to the beach, holidays, dances, and of her family and friends filled the room. Dozens of bouquets of all assorted colors comforted the casket. The bouquets were from friends, teachers, AA members, and hospital staff where Janet was taken care.
John approached the casket. He felt his body shaking that he needed to bite his bottom lip in attempt to contain it. John saw Janet’s body. She looked to be in a peaceful sleep that John desperately wanted to wake her from. She looked beautiful to John with her makeup and her pink dress. He also saw that Te Te was next to her. John felt her cold skin as he gently touched her hand and lightly kissed her head as if not to break her. John cried.
After a few minutes, John wiped his tears with a tissue given to him by the funeral director. John nodded in approval at the funeral director. He turned around to find Mike looking at pictures of Janet while wiping tears away from his eyes. John and Mike gave each other a hug and the funeral director told Mike where to stand.
John stood for what felt to him like eternity. He shook and hugged a lot of people as they talked about how much Janet was adored. Janet’s basketball team, friends, teachers, members of the anti-bullying committee, and Michelle’s friends came by to express their sympathies to John. Betty’s parents told John how much Janet’s donation helped her during Betty’s mom’s battle with cancer. Her mom told John if there was anything he needed to call them. John heard a lot of other stories about Janet as people laugh and cry.
At the end of the wake, John thanked the staff and left. Mike asked if John wanted to grab a coffee, but John declined. John needed to write the eulogy and wanted to be alone to write it.
John arrived home to find a car running in his driveway. He figured it was one of Janet’s friends. He turned his car off an approached the car. The car door opened and out came an older woman. John looked at her, trying to figure out the mysterious woman.
“Hi, John. It has been a long time,” the woman said.
John looked again and he now recognized her. It was Ashley’s sister. She ran up to John and they hugged each other. John invited her inside to catch up, even though he needed to write the eulogy. Over coffee, John told her about his struggle with alcoholism, Janet, and Michelle. Ashley’s sister talked about her career and three children. She told John that her parents and herself never stopped thinking about John. John apologized and explained that after Ashley’s death, it was tough to face them.
After a few hours, Ashley’s sister got up to leave. They made plans for next week to visit her parents. She expressed how glad she was to see John and how sorry she was to hear about Michelle and Janet’s passing. She then left and it was time for John to write the eulogy.
John grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. As he stared at the blank paper, he struggled to figure out a way to place his thoughts into words. He looked at his phone and saw the voicemails. Each voicemail was from a different person who Janet went to school with. John listened to each one of them as stories of Janet’s inspiration and how she helped others passed the time. John placed down his phone. He knew how much Janet wanted to help people, but until the wake and the voicemails he never knew how many people she directly affected. John began to write.