That familiar voice belonged to my gammy, and just hearing it melted away the sadness for a few moments. I guess I should have expected her. We were on her turf, after all.
“Gammy! Hi!”
“Hey, baby!”
Very few things in life could make me genuinely excited in a cemetery. She was one of them.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” she said.
“Thank you.” I smiled at her. “Wait. You went inside?”
“Went inside? Baby, I was right there on the front row cheering you on!”
I laughed at the idea of being encouraged through a eulogy.
“Gammy, you don’t cheer at a memorial.”
“Says who?”
“I don’t know … They?“
She waved me off. That’s my Gammy. Always on my side.
“So,” she said in that tone that meant we were changing subjects, “what’s going on with my great grands?”
I took a deep breath before telling her about Desiree and Josh. I just knew she would eat that up. Gammy’s eyes got bigger and bigger the longer I talked, and by the time I finished, she looked downright delighted. Nailed it.
“Married?!”
“Yep.”
“Just went and did it?”
“Just went and did it.”
“Ooooh!” She clapped her hands. “I know you were hot!”
“Naaah.”
She gave me a heavy side eye.
“Okay, maybe a little bit warm.”
“Mmm hmm. Pope girls are so bold! You know your mama tried to do the same thing to me.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“That child came marching into my house like she paid bills! She told me she was marrying your daddy that afternoon. TOLD me!”
“I know this story, Gammy.”
“Well, I’m telling it again!”
Of course she was.
“She was standing there all puffed up and confident like I was supposed to say, ‘Okay, baby, have fun!’ Tuh! I wanted to snatch her up!”
I laughed. I guess the urge to get physical wasn’t so out of character for me after all.
“She was so hard-headed,” she said, shaking her head. “But don’t you worry about Desi, Luca. She is mature. And this relationship isn’t something that happened overnight even though it feels that way to you. My Emmy was hasty.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Gammy. I’m not worried, really. But you know those thoughts keep trying to trip me up.”
“I figured.” Her expression softened. “I’m proud of you, though.”
“Me?”
“Of course, baby. Look at your life! You have a hot wife who loves everything about you. Your baby girl is grown and starting her own family. You got that sweet little blue baby running around here bossing everybody with flash cards.”
I laughed because I hadn’t noticed Logan had Alessia hemmed up again in front of Gammy’s plot. That boy did not care that we were at a memorial or that he had on fancy clothes. He needed mental stimulation, and Less was always powerless against him. I should probably talk to him about being so demanding. Then again, she looked perfectly content sitting in the grass quizzing him, so he could have this one.
“You have friends who drop everything when you call,” Gammy continued. “After everything you’ve been through, you built all this.”
“Hmph.” I looked toward the chapel. “Well … When you put it that way…”
“Exactly. You’re a fighter. Always have been.”
It was in moments like that I wished I remembered enough of our time together to understand how she could say that with so much certainty. I was so young when she died. But then again, maybe she knew me the same way I’d always known her: through longings in my heart and little pieces of evidence scattered throughout my life. Some things couldn’t be measured in time. They just were.
“Well … Thanks, Gammy.”
“Come here,” she said.
She pulled me into her arms, and I hugged her tight. Well, as tight as one could hug a ghost. I was so glad I was brave enough to visit her that first time and rekindle our relationship. Death had taken so many people from me, but every once in a while, it gave one back.
“Okay,” she said when she released me. “I won’t hold you. You got people to thank.”
“I’ll come see you soon…under better circumstances.”
“You better.”
“I will.”
“And bring Sophia,” she yelled after me.
I turned back with narrowed eyes. “Why?”
Her smile became suspicious.
“Do I need a reason to see my granddaughter-in-law?”
“With that face? You absolutely do. And supervision.”
She laughed. “Boy, go tend to your people!”
“Bye, Gammy. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby!”
I watched as she drifted toward the chapel. That morning, I was sad about having no more elders and realizing I was the elder now. But watching Gammy leave, still laughing at her boldness, it felt good to still have an elder around to fuss at me, even if not physically.
