The following day, Daisy, smuggled in Molly's old guitar, "Ready for a road trip?"
Molly moved into a wheelchair, and Daisy pushed her to the Children's Cancer Ward. The treatment the kids were going through was painful. Molly was going to change that. "Hi kids, have any of you been to a horse ranch? Miss Daisy and I grew up on one. It was a lot of hard work, taking care of all the horses. Miss Daisy became the vet. Those are the doctors who fix sick animals. I am going to play some songs, many you may know, so sing out if you know it. It will make it more fun for everyone else."
Molly played one Disney song after another, soon all the children were in wheelchairs surrounding Molly and Daisy. Even the little boy with severe autism was rocking back and forth to the rhythm. Daisy was peppered about what it was like to live on a ranch. Finally, she passed around her phone that had pictures of all the horses. Beauty and Apache were the clear winners; Spirit was not far behind. The horses were all the kids could talk about for a week.
It would take time to figure out why Molly went into a coma, so she went back to the cancer ward at least once a week, usually more.
It took Marie over two weeks for negotiations to complete her task, but it was up to Marie Ann to decide. "Marie Ann, I want you to think about this question before you answer. Quite frankly, some of what I'm about to propose you will not like. That is why I am not going to tell you what may happen. We would be going to North America, for a prolonged amount of time. You would need to go to church at 02:30 hours, we will talk about schooling later. I will proctor all exams. Being eight to ten hours apart, you will want to be with your French friends in the morning, and North American friends in the afternoon. You will have time to Skype, but that is not like the real thing. Don't use my opinion about your decision; talk to God and your friends; they will be the ones most affected. Buy a journal and a prayer candle if you don't have one."
Marie Ann's friends were excited. "Marie Ann, we all think this will draw us closer together; we will all have candles and prayer for each other at a fixed time. It will not be fun that you will not be with us, but Skype will make up for some of that, and you can show us things that you see in North America. God will work with all of us. I am going to bring my laptop to mass."
At supper Marie Ann made her announcement, "Great Great Grandmama Marie, I prayed to God and talked to my friends, whom God spoke through them to me. We agreed I should go and share my experiences. I don't know how my schooling will work."
The next day Marie took Marie Ann and her friends to Paris. Their first stop was Notre Dame to buy prayer candles with its image on it, and other souvenirs. Marie Ann was an excellent artist, on her visit to Notre Dame she requested several books on the church; ordinarily, that expense would be too excessive; Marie had an odd feeling, it was as if her beloved church had been stolen. Marie saw the effect on Marie Ann's visage as they left the shop with the books.
It was the first time the girls have stepped inside of it. There was no one there. A chill ran down the back of Marie's neck; the priest gave them an extended private tour of the iconic cathedral. The priest asked for special permission to guide the group to places generally out of bounds to most people. Some of the key chains were so disused they were caked in dust.
Marie Ann taught her friends to see everything they were viewing. "Look at it like you are a blind person, touch everything, think of the faith of the people that worked on this Cathedral for one hundred and eighty years. The timbers, when harvested, were two hundred years ago."
The group went to every area, the choir, the nave, and organ, where the organist played three songs, the rose windows, the high altar, even the crypt, but the thing that seems to draw Marie Ann to it was the solid gold cross.
It took two weeks to finalize all the details. Marie Ann's uncle drove Marie and Marie Ann to the airport. Marie Ann was full of trepidation. She had barely been outside Paris, so going to North America was overwhelming.
Marie and Marie Ann lived in a building for families for cancer patients. Marie Ann loved the kids; she spent several hours a day with them, even though she had her schoolwork to do. Marie Ann was walking by a waiting room when she stopped dead in her tracks, "NO, NOT NOTRE DAME! Marie Ann crumpled onto the floor, sobbing to exhaustion. One of the parents recognized Marie Ann and wheeled her to Miss Molly's room.
Miss Daisy was serving biscuits to her friend, as a tsunami of emotions slammed into her, staggering her. It was different; this was not Molly. Daisy said to her friend, "Turn on the news, I am getting my candle. In her mind, Daisy could only see flames." As soon as Marie Ann and Molly touched, Molly sent out another wave of emotions, this time knocking Daisy over.
"DAISY, didn't you tell me you have some Parisian friends? It's Notre Dame, totally engulfed." Miss Daisy and her friend looked on in horror as the iconic spire consumed itself then collapsed under its weight.
Molly didn't utter a word; she handed Marie Ann her phone and hugged her. Marie Ann heard the oddly comforting ring tone.
"Hello."
"Hello, Marie Ann."
"Why, Miss Daisy? It was such a beautiful building. I took a tour of it not a month ago."
"Do you want t find out why Marie Ann?"
"Yes, but how do I do that?"
"Well, God is in charge of everything; let's pray to get answers." It was important for this to be a video call; Daisy needed to see Marie Ann's face. Molly? She did what Molly did best; only love Marie Ann; words sometimes are overrated. Shortly, after Daisy's friend lit the sixth votive candle, Marie Ann fell asleep.
All of France was in mourning, Marie Ann's friends went to Notre Dame every day, discreetly taking pictures, a massive blog now existed, Molly saw Marie Ann was not coping well, "Marie Ann, you look troubled, do you think drawing some of the images your friends took would help?"
"Marie Ann, do you know who the experts are at giving love? It is the kids in the cancer ward. God gave you a special talent, do you think you could distract them from their current life by teaching them about France? They know nothing about your heritage, people, history, Notre Dame, the Eiffel tower or language."
"Do you think they would let me do that? I like to see a child's face light up when they learn something new. I could draw pictures, tell them how vital France was in history.
Molly went to the hospital director to tell of her plan, "I would like to add that she is taking Notre Dame hard, let her show how proud she is of her country through art and voice." Once Marie Ann heard of the approval, she ran into the ward, looking at each sun-splashed surface after another. For her project, she needed to face her horror.
Marie Ann gathered her Great-grand mama Marie and Miss Molly and went to talk to the director. "Madame Director, my project has to start like this for God to work within me." The three were exceedingly against the idea, then the director gathered herself and just looked at Marie before rendering a verdict.
"Marie Ann, while I don't approve of how you are going about this, I do know that God works on a personal level, often using the rawest of emotions. I have worked with kids long enough; I need to make my judgment as to how you see things. We will fend off Spiritual attacks, and be there to pick you up. I will make the arrangements."
Marie Ann and Marie went to an art supply store to pick up Marie Ann's items, and there will be many more visits, Marie was surprised to see sidewalk pastel chalk in the basket. The project was personal for Marie Ann. She could not sleep, so she started to draw the relics in chalk. She wanted to use her hot, moist breath to blow away the excess and to use her fingers to blend the colors. The medium was perfect for that. She could only pray as she drew; Miss Daisy said, "God would give her every answer she needed."
The Priest from the chapel came to the ward "May God bless this room, the children, the project, the adults, any future person who works on the project at home or abroad, and finally, Marie Ann, for her vision to show God working in people's lives."
Molly and the director found the most overlooked journalist the city had to offer, only she and her cameraman could work on the story. The paper didn't have much content from the fire; it didn't matter. Marie Ann gave them two on-site reporters giving first-hand reports. Marie Ann's friends had become unofficial reporters, being Parisians, people started to open up to them, to share their grief, Parisian to Parisian. No other papers in North America had that resource. They became an integral part of the project.
When they found out what was going to happen, they decided they were not going to abandon their friend in her time of need. Outside the cancer room door, the French tricolor flew, with a banner that read, "Welcome to Paris." Marie Ann's project was to raise Notre Dame in the cancer ward. Now with the parent's consent, Marie and Molly would teach the kids French worship songs.
Marie Ann wanted everyone to participate in the project, but the boy with autism did not have that capability. On the day that the news people came, Marie Ann approached the boy saying, "This is my Great—great-grandpa pa's favorite beret, we need you to wear it; to be our official Frenchman," a great smile appeared on the boy. "As you know, we will finish many sections for my Church; we will need an official Frenchman to dedicate each piece before its placement, do you think you can do that for us?" The boy nodded his head with vigor.
The cameraman played a hunch; he said to the boy, "Just because your autism took away your voice, does not mean you don't have anything to say. The touch screen and virtual keyboard let him be independent. He even learned how to swipe through pages. In the coming days, he got his iPad with some preloaded free games the cameraman knew kids liked. An official blog was set up to go in tandem with Marie Ann's friend's Blog; the boy had to list upcoming and current events, updates, and some journal type items. Marie Ann asked that he didn't mention the few secret projects she was planning.
