She's A Lady

20

Erin

It was Uncle Robbie. I felt like my best friend died, and I had only known him for one day. Damien was devastated, having been around the old man for his whole life. He was a big part of why the family was so open and understanding. He was a big part of the family and would be sorely missed. We took two days off from work to join the family and his friends in wishing him farewell.

Turns out our holidays didn't need to be touched; the company gave up to three days leave for a death in the family and that included me out of courtesy for being an official girlfriend I suppose. Or John was being nice and pulled a string or two since Damien broke down and cried in his office when he went to ask for the time off. Either way, we had a funeral and a wake to attend.

I packed our stuff while Damien was on the phone with his mom. We were going to be a few hours driving and the hotel room his dad group booked for us was check in ready when we got there, but we were meeting up for dinner with them after we got our keys. His dad insisted on paying for our room, so I was going to insist on paying for dinner. I lobbed a few pairs of socks into the suitcase with my panty hose, went over my list one more time, and shut the case as I confirmed it was all there.

"Damien honey? We need to get going if we are going to get there in time!" I called down the hall as I walked to the front door. The suitcase was a little heavy but fortunately had wheels on the bottom so I could pull it around. I got my shoes on and grabbed a raincoat just in case. Damien popped out from the kitchen and put one finger in the air, signing off with his mom.

"Sorry sweetheart. Mom is going to meet us in the lobby. The reservation is under Peter Carter, she got us a single king-size bed facing the garden. Malcolm, and the girls will be there both days, Peter could only get off for the wake." I nodded and grabbed his jacket too, he took the suitcase from me and packed it into the trunk. I threw the jackets on top and we both climbed in.

The trip was silent; Damien was lost in his thoughts and I was concentrating on getting us to the hotel in one piece. I didn't usually drive when it was the two of us, Damien had these strange old-fashioned rules about these things, but today I thought it would be better if I did. He was distracted, so it was better to have someone else take the wheel.

The small hotel was a bright red brick ordeal, only a few floors, and boasted a lovely garden and pool in the back. It was clean, there was parking and WIFI, and I got a smile at the front desk so I was not complaining. Sure enough, his mom was waiting for us and I signed paperwork to get my keys before heading for the elevators behind the two of them. I was the support today, grabbing bags while his mind was a thousand kilometers away and making sure our ducks were in a row.

After dumping the luggage in the room, we stopped over five doors down to pick up his dad and went for dinner. Hugs, tears, condolences and whispers. Everyone in the family looked a little shell shocked. Emotions were fragile. It was too soon after seeing the big man among them, laughing and eating cake as though nothing was the matter. Nobody had known he would be gone within the month from a massive heart attack. He hadn't been really sick, just at risk with his age and size.

I remembered every second of our conversation that day and thanked the powers that be that I got to meet him. It had been the first time I felt that maybe my parents didn't have anything to hold against me. It was the first time I thought that I might be able to make peace with the religion that had haunted me all through childhood. He had a beautiful vision of what that religion was all about, one that I was willing to acknowledge as a possibility to make my peace with the God that had been thrown in my face for more years than I could count.

God is love. Those three words had saved me from continuing to despise religion in general. It had given me an opportunity to brush off the hateful and hurtful words of my parents and their church. Uncle Robbie had cheered for me, without even knowing me. He had told me I was accepted by him and God, when my own parents told me what I was doing was a mistake. Uncle Robbie made the last doubts of my childhood's mind disappear with his certainty.

I loved Damien. Damien loved me. There were no mistakes, just people who didn't understand what the purpose was. My purpose was... love and anything else I wanted to do from here. Get married? Why not? Have children? Sure, we could adopt. The possibility was endless and the choices were mine to make.