Disclaimer:
This is a fictitious story. All characters are fictitious and any resemblance to real people is coincidence. Do not take any information in this story as health advice.
~~~
Jenny had had enough alcohol to build her confidence. She stood up, turned the music off and looked around at the people in her home, most of whom she would probably never see again.
Tom tapped his glass to get everyone's attention and when he did, he gestured to Jenny and said, "Mum."
Jenny took a deep breath and said, "We are here not to mourn Dan's passing but to celebrate his life and how he affected ours. I invite anyone to come up here to say how they've been affected, but first I'd like to thank my daughter, Lucy, and my son, Tom, for organising the food and drinks that we are now enjoying, well I am anyway.
"To me, Dan was my husband, friend and father of my beautiful daughter and son. He was also a great provider, such as this home, and he made me laugh a lot. I have very fond memories of us playing cards with Joe's parents on Sunday afternoons, then with Tom and Joe and then later with Lucy and Joe and I hope that I can keep holding on to those memories.
"We were not a social couple, we didn't travel much, we preferred to stay at home with our friends and family, so I am surprised to see so many of you here. I guess he affected us all somehow.
"Some of you may think that I should be mourning. After all, Dan died only yesterday. If you talk to Lucy and my best friend, Joe, who have both studied psychology at university, they can explain to you the five stages of grief. I've been through all those whilst Dan was in palliative care and so I'm over grieving.
"I'd like to thank Joe for supporting me and taking care of me while Dan was sick. He also helped me through those grieving stages. He's been a godsend.
"Well that's it from me, thank you for coming," Jenny then sat down on the old leather lounge in the sun room.
Joe and Jenny were having most meals together while Dan was in hospital. They took it in turns to cook. At night, Joe walked Jenny to and from the hospital but now Dan was dead, Jenny wondered what would happen next.
Lucy, although she appeared to be, wasn't confident and used her extroverted outward appearance to cover her insecurity.
Lucy took her mother's place and said, "As an extrovert I have to say something but I won't say much. Dad was the best father I ever had," some people tittered at her joke, "He supported me in whatever I did. I wanted a lot, but I never had the need for anything. I know that he loved me and I loved him very much. Thank you."
Tom took the position, pointed towards Lucy and said, "What she said."
Joe felt he should say something, so he stood up and said, "Dan was like a big brother to me. He'd always be pottering around in his shed and I'd be fascinated with whatever he was doing. He never shooed me away and he always explained to me what he was doing. He was very patient and answered any questions that I had. He's probably the reason why I studied Mechatronics Engineering at uni. He was a great friend."
When Joe finished, Lucy cuddled his arm and said, "Look after mum please."
Joe and Lucy had been dating for a couple of years. They were not in love but they were certainly comfortable with being boyfriend and girlfriend.
Joe approached Jenny and said, "May I?" gesturing towards the seat next to her.
"You may," said Jenny patting the seat next to her, "Sherry?" she asked, "I was hoping that you'd be my drinking partner tonight."
"I'm not a very good drinker Mrs G," answered Joe, remembering that he'd already eaten some cannabis with his friends before the memorial started. When he saw the disappointment on Jenny's face he took the small glass from her hand and said, "but I'll have one anyway."
"To Dan," toasted Joe.
Jenny cheered up and countered, "To good friends."
They both sipped their drinks and continued to listen to people saying how Dan affected their lives.
"Rubbish," said Jenny under her breath, "They're all sycophants."
"All of us?" ask Joe.
"Not you," said Jenny, cuddling his arm and giggling. "Most of them," nodding towards her guests, "Take Mr Comb-over there. He's Dan's old boss. I've met him once at their work Christmas party. Ha, the mistletoe incident was embarrassing. He tried to corner me under the mistletoe. He's just a slime."
"Comb-over 's not his real name, is it?" asked Joe.
"No," answered Jenny, "it's just the name I gave him to match his hairstyle."
Joe laughed then asked, "Why did you invite them?"
"I didn't invite them," answered Jenny, "They just turned up. They must have found out somehow.
"Am I bad person? These people came here to pay their respects and I poo poo them?"
"You're not a bad person Mrs G. You're a very lovely person. You've got a great personality. You're just inclined to tell the truth and that's not a bad thing," answered Joe.
Jenny smiled at Joe and then continued, "Tracy's alright, although, she'll probably want me to start playing tennis again."
Joe said, "Well that's a good thing Mrs G. You should get out of the house. The exercise will do you good and so will socialising."
"Always looking after me," said Jenny as she squeezed his arm.
When people stopped making speeches, Lucy turned on the music again and people settled into individual conversations. Lucy sat down and talked with Tom on the other side of the sun room.
Joe was starting to get a buzz from the dope. He always wondered if Jenny new about Dan and Joe using cannabis and chose to ignore it or she just didn't know. How did Dan keep it a secret? He certainly didn't indicate that Jenny knew. He always hid his cannabis use away from everyone except Joe. Did Dan know that his children and their friends imbibed it?
After a while, Jenny said, "I overheard you promising Dan that you would look after me."
Joe raised his eyebrows and asked, "When was that?"
Jenny answered, "During the slipper incident just after Dan got home from his operation."
"Oh my goodness Mrs G!" exaggerated Joe, "Why did you bring that up? I can feel my nose being assaulted already. I'm feeling a bit sick, thinking of that smell!"
Jenny laughed and remembered what she heard through the crack in the door when Joe was helping Dan into bed:
~~~
Dan: Help me with my slippers, please.
Joe: No problem. Here you go.
Holy shit Dan! They stink! Have you been stomping around in dog shit again? Let me check. No? It's not on the soles. Holy snapping grass moles Dan? The smell's coming from the inside! There are other ways of keeping your feet warm, mate. You don't have to line your shoes with warm dog shit. Do the world a favour and throw these shoes away.
Dan (laughing): They're comfortable and they'll outlast me.
Joe: That's for sure. That's because they're what's killing you. They're rotting you from the feet up. They're biological warfare mate. Throw them away and you'll start getting better.
Dan (still laughing): Stop ... Stop please ... It's hurting ... I'll pop my stitches if you keep that up.
Joe: Okay, but really mate. Those slippers need to go...
