On the Way Home by Stephanie Wells Mason

Author:Stephanie Wells Mason [Mason, Stephanie Wells]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

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At they sat around the table eating breakfast, London broke the news to her children. It went about as well as she had expected; Corkie started crying, and Marty ran off to her room, stone-faced, and slammed the door. London didn’t go after her, knowing it would do no good. Marty had acted the same way after Brock died; spending what seemed like endless hours alone in her room. London held Corkie on her lap while he cried and asked questions, many of which she couldn’t answer, at least not to her satisfaction.

“Did she go to heaven like Daddy?”

“I’m sure she did,” she said. “She was a good person.”

“If I’m good and I go to heaven someday, will I see Dad again and Elsie too?”

“Probably.”

“Mom, where’s heaven?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it nice there? Do they have ice cream? Elsie always had ice cream at her house, so if they don’t have ice cream in heaven, I bet she won’t like it there.”

“I’m sure it’s a wonderful place.” At least London hoped it was. She had many of the same questions herself but felt compelled as a parent comforting a child to maintain his security without introducing her own uncertainties of life after death.

Did anybody really have those answers? It wasn’t like you could write a travelogue after dying. What was death like? Where did you go? Who did you meet? And most importantly, why? Why were we here on this earth in the first place? Endless questions with no real answers.

After the breakfast dishes were washed, London sat at the table and began searching through a newspaper left over from her morning route that she’d kept instead of tossing. She wanted to find the obituary section. Corkie ran off to play, and Marty hadn’t come out of her room yet. London had to see if there was any information about Elsie. She wanted to know what happened. When had she died? London wasn’t even sure who to call and ask. There was sure to be a funeral. Someone must know something.

She found the obituaries and scanned for a picture of Elsie. In the final column, near the bottom of the page, London recognized a black and white photo showing the kind smile and twinkling eyes of her dear friend. The photo wasn’t recent—Elsie’s face had fewer wrinkles—but it captured the warmth of the spirit she’d shared so freely with London and her children. Above the photo was her name: Elsie Elizabeth Riley Moffatt 1929—2003. London carefully read the small paragraph.

Elsie Elizabeth Riley Moffatt, 73, of Kalispell, Montana, died Saturday, August 2, 2003, from complications due to heart disease. The only daughter of Evelyn and Alma Riley, she married Harold (Hal) Moffatt March 12, 1962. Elsie worked as a teacher in the Kalispell School District for 11 years. She and her husband were lifetime residents of the Flathead Valley and previous owners of the Mighty Mountain Ranch. She was known for her many hours of service as a volunteer for local schools,

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