The Rockin' Chair by Steven Manchester

man let Evan go and grabbed Tara for a squeeze.
    â€œOh Grampa John, I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said, crying.
    â€œ Temporary loss, sweetheart,” he corrected her. “In my soul, I know me and your grandma will be together again soon. We have to. It wouldn’t make no sense to share so much love between two people … every laugh, every kiss, every secret … only to lose it all to death. It can’t be the end. There ain’t no way.”
    â€œI believe you,” she said.
    Grampa John finished the hug and then reclaimed his seat. He picked up the carving and returned to his work. After a long, unusual silence, he quietly spoke on the growing price of grain and the latest trials of Three Speed. “And the weather’s been a little screwy, too,” he claimed. “Just can’t figure nothin’ no more.” It was sad. For a man who rarely used two words when only one would do, Grampa John never wasted his breath on the weather—ever. He veered from any talk of Grandma. Worst of all, he never even noticed the pain in his grandchildren’s faces. He’s in a terrible state, Evan realized. Losing a soul mate obviously does horrible things to a man.
    At one point, Grampa John looked up from his carving. “Go ahead in and make yourselves at home,” he told them, nodding toward the front door. “There’s some stew on the stove. It ain’t your grandma’s but it’ll stick to your ribs, sure enough.”
    Brokenhearted over the old man’s terrible grief, Evan and Tara stepped into the house.
    It was a bitterly cold Saturday morning when friends from far and wide came to pay their respects. Everyone who knew Alice adored her and equally loved her grieving husband. The McCarthy’s tiny field of granite was filled with mourners. As the preacher spoke, an eerie silence filled the frozen air.
    â€œThe Lord blessed each of our lives with the gift of knowing and loving Alice. Now He has taken her home to be with Him. Those who remember her, who loved her, walk with heavy hearts today, but we must also remember that Alice has been freed from the heavy chains of this world. She now walks with the Lord and shall dwell peacefully within His house for all eternity. Until the day we meet again …”
    The preacher’s kind words were carried on the icy wind and John listened carefully to each one. Amid them, a thousand memories reminded him of why he felt such loss. A thousand more reminded him of the void that now filled the desolate chambers of his heart. He stood rigid, conscious not to sway, and nearly snickered when the pastor mentioned “forgiveness.”
    While John fought back the tears that burned to be free, the preacher’s drone drifted and became distant. John tried comforting himself with his own thoughts, but the ache in his heart was worse than anything he’d ever imagined. I’m nothin’ without Alice by my side , he thought, and the pain made him want to join her.
    The preacher continued to talk above the sniffles. John glanced down at the scarred earth where friends had dug the hole. Beside his parents, Alice’s pine casket was about to be committed. A roll of old burlap covered the hole, while a mound of dirt mixed with snow sat behind them. Interrupting his own prayer, John questioned the Lord. Why ain’t there another hole dug beside her, Father? It don’t make no sense. It ain’t natural for Alice to be layin’ here alone.
    John understood the cycles of life and had always been as comfortable with death as he was with life, but putting Alice in the ground alone was a tough one. I got no purpose walkin’ this earth without my wife matchin’ every step. God, how I wish I was layin’ right there beside her in our eternal bed. He became entranced in the fantasy.
    Shoulder to shoulder, Hank, Elle, Evan and Tara stood across the casket from the old man.