TEARS IN HEAVEN
Epilogue
September 1, 2032
Today all of us finally got the nerve to go
to the old house and start sorting through Mom and Dad's things. I know most of
us are still in shock after Dad's death...but it was a fitting death. He died
in his bed, on what would've been my parents thirty-first wedding anniversary.
While the doctors claim it was natural causes that took him, we all know that
he died of a broken heart, not wanting to go through another anniversary
without Mom. That's just how their love was, unable to go on without the other.
We all take comfort in knowing that they're together again and that they watch
over us, probably laughing that we worry so much.
Today there were tears and there was
laughter. Surprisingly enough, there was more laughter than tears, especially
when Taylor came across some rather erotic drawings Dad did of Mom. It was
hard, going through all those familiar things...things that are a part of who
they were, of who we are. A part of our pasts, our childhoods.
After Mom passed away some six years ago,
none of us had the heart to get rid of any of her stuff. I highly doubt Dad
would've let us anyway. But now we all have the task to clear the house out,
take what we want, and discard the rest so the house can be sold. I don't know
how we're going to throw anything away. All of the things are reminders of our
past and of our late parents. Even the box of long forgotten chocolates we
found hidden under Mom's side of the bed.
To tell the truth, I don't know where our
family is going now, and especially after the house is gone. I'm sure we'll
remain close, as we always have, but there will always be that void. Our
parents. Now we have this impossible task of cleaning out everything our family
stands for, of selling off the one place we could always run to when the world
got too cruel, that would shield us from the outside world. And even though
we're all adults now--except Taylor, who's only eleven-and-a-half...I took her
in after Dad died--it's so incredibly hard to say good-bye to our safe haven.
But we have the spirits of Jack and Rose Dawson running within us all, and like
they did--we will prosper. It's the Dawson motto, after all--to live each day
to the fullest and make each day count. Mom and Dad did it, and so will we. In
their honor.
Kayla Mankowski-Dawson
The End.