Death: (Merriam Webster) The end of life: the time when someone or something dies.
(Urban Dictionary) Death is the end of life.
When I was a kid, my grandmother had a friend named Ms. Fullerton. I believe they met each other at church. Ms. Fullerton was such a close friend of my grandmother’s that she even watched me sometimes after school and when I was sick.
One day, under mysterious circumstances, Ms. Fullerton was rushed to the hospital. She was found unconscious in her apartment by a neighbor, covered in what appeared to be cigarette burns. If I remember correctly, Ms. Fullerton stayed in the hospital for almost a month before she passed away. She never regained consciousness and no one ever found out what happened to her. Since she didn’t have any children of her own, her nephew made all of her final arrangements and held a memorial service for her.
It was a very sad, and eerie situation. Everyone in my family, including my grandmother, attended the memorial service. The service was very small and most of the people in attendance were people we knew from church. Ms. Fullerton’s nephew gave a reading and talked about his relationship with his aunt.
During the memorial service, my grandmother began whispering to my mother, step-father and I. My grandma had 80% hearing loss so her “whisper” was more of a normal raised tone. My grandmother proceeded to tell us how just the day before, she was watching something on television and it made her think of Ms. Fullerton. My grandmother said, “I picked up the phone and dialed Ms. Fullerton’s number and the phone rang and rang but then I forgot she was DEAD!” You know how sometimes in the movies someone says something shocking and everyone around them drops what they are doing and gasps? That exactly what happened. My grandmother was so loud! My mom and I turned red, dropped our heads and tried our hardest not to crack up. I told my grandmother, “Ma, you are LOUD. Now everyone is looking over here.” My grandmother didn’t care. Her response was, “Well it’s true. I forgot she was DEAD.” OMG.
Now usually here is where I would write something about a lesson I learned, or how you can better yourself from this situation, but I don’t have much here. I guess what you could take away from this is that you never really know when death with find its way to you. And even for your loved ones that you leave behind, it can be a hard adjustment for them to. I will never forget this story because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding Ms. Fullerton’s death. My grandmother still talks about it to this day. And my mother and I still crack up about my grandmother’s sudden need to remind everyone in the funeral home that Ms. Fullerton was dead.
tell 'em why you mad son 