comfortable with one another.”
I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to feel about this newest development. Magic, huh… big deal, note the sarcasm. My best friend falling for my brother, this was possibly a bigger deal. Note: no sarcasm here. We drove for another hour. I nodded off a few times, only to be awakened by Aunt Grace’s voice softly saying, “Jacey, we’re home.”
Chapter Nine
Bringing Mom and Dad home
Discovering a familiar comfort
Learning of new love
Approving
I opened my eyes, sat up, and took a look around me once my grogginess wore off. Seeing Aunt Grace’s home, Mom’s home, for the first time had a profound effect on me. I was happy and sad all at the same time. I should have been able to share this moment with my mom. Dusk was setting in.
The house was a Cape Cod. A white picket-fenced veranda wrapped around the entire house. The exterior was made of dark brick with a hint of cream stucco decorating the three window frames which poked out from the second floor. Dominating the front yard was the oldest looking oak tree in existence. Its branches were long and crooked. They reminded me of outstretched arthritic fingers. Each finger was jam-packed with the largest, most breath-taking green leaves I’d ever seen. I yawned, stretched, and looked around the rest of the yard. Hudson and Jen carried boxes into the house and Aunt Grace was kneeling beside me by the car door. I looked at her and smiled.
“Jacey, Ria’s favorite place was in that oak tree right there in the front yard,” Aunt Grace said, pointing to the tree.
“All of this—it looks like her,” I said, and immediately thought, what a stupid thing to say . “Her get green initiatives make a little more sense to me now. She was always so passionate about the environment and seeing where she grew up, it all adds up now.”
“I find myself thinking the exact same thing on a daily basis. It does look like her, and by the way, definitely not a stupid thing to say,” she said, smiling. I caught onto the fact I hadn’t said ‘stupid thing to say’ out loud, I just thought it. By now, I was expecting things to be-somewhat inexplicable.
As I got out of the car I realized I’d fallen asleep with Mom and Dad’s urn in my lap. I held onto it with one arm and grabbed Aunt Grace’s arm with my other hand. She closed the car door and we both headed to the trunk to get all of our stuff. I grabbed a suitcase and kept the urn in the other arm. Aunt Grace grabbed a bag and one suitcase. She shut the trunk and we walked up the front step.
A gust of wind came up and caught my breath as I approached the house. I stood there unable to breathe for a second or two, holding Mom and Dad’s urn tight into my chest. I looked at Jen, Hudson, and Aunt Grace, waiting to see if they were experiencing the same thing I was. From the looks on their faces, they weren’t. They continued on with what they were doing. I was the only one standing like a statue in the front yard. I closed my eyes but somehow I could still see everyone around me—like an out of body experience. The gust came back. This time it wasn’t just a gust of wind. This time it was tangible. It came up and stopped, lingering right in front of me.
It was full of color. The same ones from my room back home. Absent-mindedly, I reached out in an attempt to touch them. As I did, the colors, reached back for me. When we touched, I experienced a surge of emotion that was almost unbearable. The gust of wind, it was Mom. It was as though she was welcoming me… home.
As soon as I realized it, the essence of Mom swirled around me, as if her spirit was trying to hug me.
“Jacey, are you coming?” Aunt Grace asked. Her voice brought me back to the real world. My heart was racing. I opened my eyes and the gust left. It seemed as if I had been standing still for at least a few minutes, encompassed within the warmth of my Mom moment. When I looked at the others, I could see no one
I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to feel about this newest development. Magic, huh… big deal, note the sarcasm. My best friend falling for my brother, this was possibly a bigger deal. Note: no sarcasm here. We drove for another hour. I nodded off a few times, only to be awakened by Aunt Grace’s voice softly saying, “Jacey, we’re home.”
Chapter Nine
Bringing Mom and Dad home
Discovering a familiar comfort
Learning of new love
Approving
I opened my eyes, sat up, and took a look around me once my grogginess wore off. Seeing Aunt Grace’s home, Mom’s home, for the first time had a profound effect on me. I was happy and sad all at the same time. I should have been able to share this moment with my mom. Dusk was setting in.
The house was a Cape Cod. A white picket-fenced veranda wrapped around the entire house. The exterior was made of dark brick with a hint of cream stucco decorating the three window frames which poked out from the second floor. Dominating the front yard was the oldest looking oak tree in existence. Its branches were long and crooked. They reminded me of outstretched arthritic fingers. Each finger was jam-packed with the largest, most breath-taking green leaves I’d ever seen. I yawned, stretched, and looked around the rest of the yard. Hudson and Jen carried boxes into the house and Aunt Grace was kneeling beside me by the car door. I looked at her and smiled.
“Jacey, Ria’s favorite place was in that oak tree right there in the front yard,” Aunt Grace said, pointing to the tree.
“All of this—it looks like her,” I said, and immediately thought, what a stupid thing to say . “Her get green initiatives make a little more sense to me now. She was always so passionate about the environment and seeing where she grew up, it all adds up now.”
“I find myself thinking the exact same thing on a daily basis. It does look like her, and by the way, definitely not a stupid thing to say,” she said, smiling. I caught onto the fact I hadn’t said ‘stupid thing to say’ out loud, I just thought it. By now, I was expecting things to be-somewhat inexplicable.
As I got out of the car I realized I’d fallen asleep with Mom and Dad’s urn in my lap. I held onto it with one arm and grabbed Aunt Grace’s arm with my other hand. She closed the car door and we both headed to the trunk to get all of our stuff. I grabbed a suitcase and kept the urn in the other arm. Aunt Grace grabbed a bag and one suitcase. She shut the trunk and we walked up the front step.
A gust of wind came up and caught my breath as I approached the house. I stood there unable to breathe for a second or two, holding Mom and Dad’s urn tight into my chest. I looked at Jen, Hudson, and Aunt Grace, waiting to see if they were experiencing the same thing I was. From the looks on their faces, they weren’t. They continued on with what they were doing. I was the only one standing like a statue in the front yard. I closed my eyes but somehow I could still see everyone around me—like an out of body experience. The gust came back. This time it wasn’t just a gust of wind. This time it was tangible. It came up and stopped, lingering right in front of me.
It was full of color. The same ones from my room back home. Absent-mindedly, I reached out in an attempt to touch them. As I did, the colors, reached back for me. When we touched, I experienced a surge of emotion that was almost unbearable. The gust of wind, it was Mom. It was as though she was welcoming me… home.
As soon as I realized it, the essence of Mom swirled around me, as if her spirit was trying to hug me.
“Jacey, are you coming?” Aunt Grace asked. Her voice brought me back to the real world. My heart was racing. I opened my eyes and the gust left. It seemed as if I had been standing still for at least a few minutes, encompassed within the warmth of my Mom moment. When I looked at the others, I could see no one
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