Page 110 of Maybe Some Other Time

She dodged questions about her personal life, if only because that was between her and Gretchen, who had been steadily dating since making up that past Christmas. It was much too soon to speak of marriage, but Thelma wanted to move in together by summer, since she hadso many ideasof how to bring Gretchen’s house up to a… certain standard. And wasn’t it convenient, having both houses right next to each other? Oh, Megan couldn’t move out so soon after graduating in another year. But if Robbie could be convinced, maybe Emma should move in with them!

“You have it all figured out, huh?” Gretchen asked as they sat at a picnic table by themselves. Only a few feet away, many of the guests from group danced to an oldies playlist that blasted from someone’s poor phone speakers. “Must be that classic housewife’s brain I’ve heard so much about.”

“Well, when you have the power of the pocketbook, the budget, and the bank account…”

“And the food. Don’t forget all that good food you cook.”

“Don’t give me that tone,” Thelma teased. “You love my cooking.”

“Until I found out how much lard was going in it…”

Thelma laughed. “Yes! The lard!”

“Hey!” called Pauline from the small group of dancers. “Thel! It’s your song!”

Someone cranked up “Twilight Time” by the Platters. Thelma leaped up from the picnic table, grabbing Gretchen’s hand and insisting that they sway together with the other couples forming in the clearing. They nestled neatly between Pauline and Ethan and Megan and Emma.

“This is my favorite song,” Thelma said to her girlfriend. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“I think you’re more beautiful than any song.”

“Oh, you corndog.”

It was while they danced out of step to the song that Thelma saw her son sitting by himself on a bench, his dour demeanor reminding her of how ill he looked the day she disappeared.Not on my watch.She hustled up to him and, with Gretchen’s help, took his hands and pulled him into the dance party.

“Where’s your smile, Mr. Mopey Pants?” she chided as the song faded into “Wipeout.” “You telling me you never learned how to dance?”

“It’s weird to dance with your mother!”

“Then dance with me, sport.” Gretchen deepened her voice as she pushed Thelma out of the way and moved in front of Robbie. “Come on, we’ve gotta work on this relationship before the wedding. Maybe throw a ball around.”

“Stop doing that!”

Thelma removed her sweater now that she had worked up a small sweat. In the midst of the dancers, she spun around on her own, her curls fluttering against her cheek.This year, I learned that matter is neither created nor destroyed.It merely changed, filtering through the trees, returning to the earth, and raining from the sky as the circle of life went on around everyone to ever live and breathe.That’s me.A year ago, her particles were rearranged. She joined the winds, the rains, and the screams of human laughter for sixty years before reorganizing into Thelma Van der Graaf, a woman who was honored to live throughtoday.

Whatever day today was.

The End