We get home from the beach, and Auntie and Uncle want to hear all about the game and the lake. Anna is telling them how I swam out and floated on my back. I have Zeena laying beside me with her head on my lap. I am petting her head and just thinking. "Ezzie, can ask you something?" I say.
"Of course, Mary." Says Ezzie.
"Why didn't Auntie or Uncle ever take me to the lake after Mom & Dad died?" I ask.
"They were worried it would bring back too many memories for you, that at such a young age you might not have been ready to handle. They didn't want to upset you. Your life was turned upside down. They were grieving the loss of their friends. While taking care of you and Anna, and trying to keep happy faces on." Says Ezzie.
I had never thought of them losing their friends. That really makes me stop and think.
"Mary, Auntie is asking you a question." Ezzie says loudly.
"What did you say?" I ask. "I am sorry I was thinking."
"See she looked just like that, and she jumped into the water." Says Anna.
Uncle is next to me. "Mary, do you have something on your mind you want to talk about?" He asks me.
I hug him tight. I surprise him, but he wraps his arms around me. "What's this for?"
"I just sort of realized something. All day at the lake I was remembering Mom & Dad taking me there. I was wondering why you never took me there after they died, and then I realized two things. One you were probably trying to keep me from getting upset by remembering them, and two. You had just lost your best friends, and you took me in. I never thought about your loss until just now." I say crying with tears running down my face.
Uncle has tears running down his cheeks and is trying not to actually cry, and I can hear Auntie sob behind me. Uncle is having a hard time talking, but he is looking into my eyes. I can see pain in his eyes. He reaches up and holds my face in his hands. "That was...umm...our job." He says holding back the tears. "That's what parents do. They take care of their children first, and themselves second." Uncle looks over at Anna. I turn and look over and I see Anna & Auntie hugging each other and crying. "Don't either of you ever forget that. No matter how old you get, you will both be our little girls. Always!"
"I know Daddy." Anna says and she comes over to us. He holds his other arm open and he hugs each of us in an arm. I feel Auntie come in behind us and hug us from behind. We all hug like that for a moment until Uncle groans. "Man smothered by 1,000 pounds of crying women."
Auntie jokingly takes offense to that comment. "A Thousand Pounds?"
"Too much?" Uncle asks with a smile. "Ok 500 pounds."
"What! I was going to suggest ice cream, but I guess I am Fat!" She says with a fake attitude.
Anna giggles. "If anyone is fat here it's you Dad." She says patting his soft middle aged belly.
"Hey, it took a lot of hard work and beers over the years to get that soft belly." He says.
"And we love every growing inch of it." I giggle.
"Ok that's it." He says joking as he pushes us off his lap. "No more hugs for either of you." He laughs.
I stand up and Auntie is there. She hugs me and sniffles. "My little girls are growing up." She looks at me and smiles. "I am proud of you." She says.
"You are?" I ask surprised
She gives me a big proud smile. "You have grown up into a beautiful, caring, young woman. It takes a lot of maturity to admit you never thought of that before, and you shouldn't have. You were a child. Our job was to console you, and to make you feel loved and safe. But thinking about it now shows just how much you have grown over the years. We are ALL very proud of you." She says placing her hand on my chest over my Mom & Dads rings, and hugs me.
"Thank you Auntie. I love you." I say as I hug her.
"Oh Baby, I love you too."
Uncle speaks up. "Who wants ice cream?"
We all go out into the kitchen for ice cream.
We are just about done eating our ice cream when I get a text.
SYLVIE - I thought you might like a rough copy of the video. I sent a copy to Julie.
I look at Anna. "The video!"
"Oh my God, and the cars." Says Anna.
"What cars? What video?" Asks Uncle.
"Oh my God. Come see." I say heading into the livingroom to play the video. While we are watching Sylvie sends me another clip.
It finishes and Uncle says. "Wait a minute. Replay that." As he grabs a pen and paper and writes down each name. It finishes and he looks up. "That's eight different sports stars, ten if you count The Bats and The Coyotes. They cover every major sport in the country. This is amazing." He says shocked.
While the video was playing the second time I looked at Sylvie's text. I can see the screenshot of me just after I signed the hood. I turn and look at Uncle & Auntie. "And then there was the car." I say with a big smile as I make a big over the top sweep of my hand to send the new video to the TV. It shows me just standing up from signing the hood. Robert is explaining Chevys donation, and me blurting out. "That's $1,000,000!"
The camera then circles the car showing off the paint job and the video ends. "Oh Mary!" Gasps Auntie as she hugs me from behind. "That looks Amazing!"
I smile. "Yeah, it kind of does."
Uncle speaks up. "I think you need a chaperone for the race." He says.
Auntie turns back and smiles at him. "Bullshit." She laughs. "You want to go see the race cars."
Uncle laughs. "I do. I have never seen them in person."
"Have fun. I have no wish to go watch cars drive in circles all afternoon." Says Auntie.