Violet's Way

The funeral home had done a magnificent job in decorating for this occasion. They did not question a single thing that was on her list of requests. Martin had said that no one had ever asked that the hall be adorned in such a manner. It was his honor to grant her requests, for she was the person of honor today.

She lay there in her pristine dress and appropriate accessories, as her final wish was to be buried with her favorite beer in one hand and smokes in the other. She had warned me not to forget the lighter and the ashtray that I had made her in second grade. Proudly, I stood at the head of her casket, greeting each passerby with humble respect. They had taken time to come pay their respects; I honored their respect, but with each handshake, each simple thanks, a piece of me broke off into the abyss of “I cannot believe this is happening now.”

‘I do not know how much longer I can do this. These people all had ‘reasons’ no to help when she needed them most. Now, they want to be all … whatever. But … I promised Mom that I would behave. She raised me better.’

Shannon maintained her composure throughout the ordeal. Each person. Each handshake. Each fake hug. Each whisper. Each promise. The … It was stifling. She really wanted to scream at everyone to get out. However, she was raised by the strongest woman in the world and she was not going to disrespect her memory today. She had promised in those last days that she would pretend to be the bigger person … but her mother did not ask her to keep up this charade after this was over. Shannon purposefully began planning conversations with each one of these people who were too good for her mother when her mother needed them most.

“Are you okay?”

Startled, “Yes.”

“You don’t look okay. You look like you are about to rip someone’s head off.”

“Adam…” she smiled, “Do not give me any more ideas than I already have.”

“There’s my girl.” Adam reached over, squeezed her hand gently, and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“I am so sorry for your loss, Shannon. If there is anything that I can do…”

“Thank you, Mr. Peabody. I appreciate that. There is one thing Mom wanted me to follow up on with you. And my mind is all over the place, ya know. So, I will ask now before I forget.” Shannon gracious in her tone.

“Of course, child. What is it?” he reached out to grab her hand.

“Do you think that you can finish the roof on the house and get the shed done in the next couple of weeks. I would like to start getting the house ready to sell, and I cannot exactly do that with half a shed and a partially finished roof.” Forcing a tear for effect, Shannon squeezed his hand.

“Absolutely, child. I will get my team on it first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you so much, sir.” Pulling her hand back to wipe her tears. “Thank you.”

“That was awkward,” Adam whispered from behind.

“The jackass has been putting my mom off with every excuse known to the human race. He is not going to be there in the morning. But I will be calling him, and tomorrow I will not be so nice. I will call him out. I already have the lawsuit papers drawn and ready for him when he bails.”

“You are special, Shannon. Remind me to not mess with you.”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Shannon. Darlin. I am so sorry. Your momma was a fighter. She did not give up. You are just like her.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Wilson. Thank you.”

“Your mom was a very special lady. You look just like her.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wilson.”

Person after person maintained a consistent pace of procession. Adam stood behind Shannon, a few feet away, just enough for space but not so far that she could not sense his loving presence. It has been Adam who has kept her in the right frame of mind to keep her promise to her mother. Shannon was extremely grateful for him. Maybe one day she will be able to tell him precisely how much he means to her.

“Shannon, it is time to start.”

Adam took Shannon’s arm and escorted her to the front row where her seat was. Once she was seated, he whispered, “I am right behind you.” Looking square in his face, “No. You will sit next to me. Mom loved you like a son. There is no one else. You will sit with me.” With a nod, Adam took the seat next to Shannon. As he did, he could hear the whispers begin.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. We are gathered here today to pay respects to a sturdy and direct pillar of our community. You may not have agreed with her, I know that she gave me a run for my money on sever instances.”

Shannon smiled. Then wiped away the tears. Adam held her close.

“Violet Turnbow was one of a kind. There was never any question about where she stood on a topic. What she expected. Or how she felt about you. She would surely tell you, and it did not matter if she hurt your feelings. You would know the truth from her instantly. She did not like grey lines. She did not approve of ‘bending’ the rules. She was quite the force. However, though she had this blunt exterior, she was quite the advocate for those who were closest to her.”

Pastor Robert looked directly at Shannon. “Shannon, your mother made me promise to mention this today. So, you will be embarrassed and will want to take me out, and you can …” he smiled “but it will be in the parking lot later because I am not going to have your mother come back and kick me right now or when I am asleep in my bed via my dreams.”

Shannon’s mind began to race. What on earth did her mother want to have shared with her, in front of all these people? What, in her childhood or past, needed to be exposed?

Choking back tears and exuding a half laugh, “Go for it. Mom is mom.”

The crowd began whispering even more. Eager to hear the last possible observation that would embarrass her daughter. That was so Violet. She did not care about your feelings. Adam leaned in and offered his support. Shannon told him that it was okay. This was just her mother getting the last word in for the argument. Adam laughed.

“Shannon, my beautiful daughter. From the day that you were conceived, you began making my life difficult. I think that as soon as the sperm hit the egg, your attitude began. I would swear by it.” Pastor Robert looked up at Shannon, then continued. “Each doctor visit was a new adventure. Blood pressure too low. Blood pressure too high. Eclampsia. Not eclampsia. Swelling in my legs and bed rest. Not enough movement to serve your demands, so bed rest was out of the question. Let’s not even start with the cravings and heartburn you gave me. But that was not enough; then your acrobatics … child, I swear you wanted out at week 12.” The crowd laughed.

“At week 16 I am convinced that you were doing four-count push-ups and trying to run the 400-meter dash in record time. Through it all, I fell more and more in love with you, my daughter. Week 24. That is when you got even more ambitious. You instigated true contractions. You started your teen years of difficulty before you even crowned your beautifully full head of red hair. It took the doctors several hours to settle you down. Then I was ordered to stop all activity so that you would not try that again. However, they did not understand the force of nature that they were dealing with, and at 34 weeks, you said hello to the world. The doctor said when you came out, you were holding your fist as though you were going to hit him. Determined to get your way does not even begin to describe your strengths.”

“Firecracker from day one. I knew I loved you.” Adam whispered.

Laughing through the tears.

“Now. I am going to use a big word. It is 5 letters. So pay attention.”

The crowd laughed.

“Your Apgar (that is the big word).” Pastor Robert looked at his paper, then at Shannon; she nodded to go on because this was true Violet. “Your Apgar score at 1 minute was 7 and at 5 minutes was a 9. No one had seen that ever. Especially at 34 weeks. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind just how strong you were. You proved that to me over and over again as you grew up. From your early acrobatics all over the house. To t-ball. To flag football. To announcing to the school that you would not be a part of any group or club who did not appreciate and exercise true honesty. Watching you on the debate team was definitely the highlight of your school career. The best is when you and Mr. Robins continued to debate after he disqualified you for facts that he thought were false. The apology you told me about later was awesome to hear about.”

Adam’s shirt was now soaked. Shannon’s tears were forthcoming, and there was no stopping them. She did not even know that her mom knew about the apology. She did not remember telling her. She remembered that she was mad when she got home, and they had gotten into a fight.

“Shannon, I know that you made me a promise to be respectful today. I release you from that promise. You are you. Do not change that for anyone. Not even me. I raised you with the fear of God, and he gave you talents to use. I want you to stand tall and remember that I am no longer hurting, my eyesight is restored, and I am dancing like I did when you were little. Cancer no longer has a grip on me and you are the best accomplishment I ever managed.”

Pastor Robert took out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. There was not a dry eye in the parlor.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Violet was one of a kind. You never questioned her loyalty. You never had to question her love. You never had to question her dedication and her vision for a good life. This parlor in it’s décor, for her, reminds me of days before the ministry when we all went to the Schooner to dance and drink and enjoy life. She was indeed a wild one, but responsible. She never missed a day of work because of her activities the previous night. And always gave 150 percent. WE could all learn a lot from her.”

“Will you all please bow your heads. ‘Father in heaven. We surrender our sister, a dedicated woman, mother, and friend to Your home. We know that she is with you Lord and that she is no longer in a battle. Hold her near to You lord, and let her know that we miss her, but we will see her soon. In Jesus name, Amen’”

“This concludes our services today. There will not be a graveside service. Please, from the back, make your way forward to pay your last respects to Ms. Violet.”

Standing up, Shannon wiped her tears, cleared her throat, and stopped them all in their tracks.

“Pastor Robert, thank you for your message. Martin, thank you for honoring the décor. Adam, my love, I could not do this without you. However,” She paused, caught her breath, “However, the rest of you. The rest of you can just turn around and walk right out that door you walked in. I stomached your patronizing sympathies because I made my mother a promise. As you all heard, she released me from that promise. So I am going to set the record straight right here, right now. Lawrence Peabody, you were contracted to fix my mother’s roof and fix her shed 7 months ago. If you do not have a crew there in the morning, my lawyer will file an injunction against you and your company, and I will sue you for every penny you have. You are a shyster, and you took advantage of a blind woman with cancer. I am not blind. I do not have cancer. I do, however, know several wonderful litigators who are waiting on my phone call. By the way, Mr. Peabody … litigator is a fancy word for lawyer. You know, the job I currently have. As for the rest of you, Mom told me of how often you all declined to help, even for a small thing like a conversation. So, I am hereby closing this off and going to spend some quality quiet time with my mother. You all can get lost.”

Muffles and murmurs shuffled through the crowd. Adam held her shoulders from behind, then whispered, ‘You did great. Not one cuss word.”

Once the last person was out the door, Martin locked the door behind them. Turned around and smiled. “Take as long as you want young lady. Your mother would be so proud.”

“Shannon, your mother knew that you would keep your promise. She talked to me two days before she passed and dictated all of that for me to read today. I asked her several times why she wanted me to do it in front of everyone; she simply stated that truth is truth and we should never not have the freedom to express it.”

“Pastor Robert. Thank you again. She never said a word to me about any of this. I did not even know that she knew about the debate apology because we got into a fight that afternoon when I got home about me not doing the dishes. I never told her. Today was a good day. She did what she always does: gets her way. NO reason to ever doubt that Violet would secure her way or the highway even in death. I should have known better.”