Steele Missing You
Father’s Day 1987
The Steeles didn’t always
attend church on Sunday. They did on this one. Remington
often found that when Laura became solemn over a period of days,
attending Mass
sometimes gave her the chance to unravel whatever knotty issue had
lodged itself into her brain.
He was never sure if it was the meditative aspects of the service, the
words of the priest, or simply the familiar ritual that worked, and
perhaps it was some combination of the
three. But as they knelt in the pew after taking Communion, he
felt Laura’s hand reaching for his.
He took it and tried to rub away some of the iciness in her
fingers. For the remaining few minutes
of Mass they stayed that way, holding hands until the last verse of the
last song was sung.
They stepped outside the church, the bright June light warming the
earth and the air blowing cool and sweet on these last few days of
spring. Without comment, Laura
took the wheel of the Rabbit and drove to the outskirts of town.
Remington merely sighed, knowing she
would unburden herself when she was ready. He did wonder where
they might be going.
In the middle of a small patch of countryside, she parked near an
equally small cemetery. It was dotted here and there with
markers, some large, some small. Flowers
marked each grave, and the green grass was interrupted by the presence
of a lone woman in the far corner of
the field.
Laura walked between the rows, arms crossed, hands tucked under, and
her head down. Near the end she stopped, turning to face the
marker. As the tears rolled silently down her cheeks, Remington
pulled her into
his arms, hurting as she grieved for her lost father. His own
eyes dampened, thinking of Daniel
and how he’d missed him this past year.
In that lonely field, it took time before the words would come for
either of them. When they did, there was anger, reflection, more
tears--and eventually, a half-hearted
chuckle or two. In time, they each acknowledged that there are
some holes in the heart that never heal.
Sitting at the foot of the grave in the warm spring afternoon, the
Steeles let their fathers live--in their hearts and memories--for yet
another day.
21 June 2009 (Happy Father's Day)
edited 1 May 2010
Steele Holting On
Steele
Holting On