Evelyn's Descent

Chapter 1: Locked In

“We’re here,” announced Dale as he drove the car into the parking lot. Judith yawned. “Wake up kids, we’re here” The children stirred. Evelyn sat, staring blankly out the window. “Ya hungry, Evelyn?” asked Dale. “Yeah,” she mumbled, fumbling with the door handle. The family had been driving most of the day. Their road trip from Yellowstone had been a long, but enjoyable one, and now they could take their time driving back home.

Once inside the restaurant, Evelyn began trailing off as the family was being seated. “Mom? Where ya goin’?” Judith asked. Evelyn headed for the women’s bathroom. They all ordered supper and the kids played on their phones while Dale and Judith planned the remaining drive.

After a few minutes, Judith said with concern “Gee, it seems mom’s been in there a while. I should probably go check on her.” Dale let her out of the booth. She walked to the bathroom and as she got closer, she could hear a faint crying. “Mom, are you okay?” Judith asked, knocking on the bathroom door. “I - I can’t open it” cried Evelyn. “What do you mean, you can’t open it? Is it stuck?” “I don’t know,” replied Evelyn in desperation. “Jiggle the handle, mom.”

After several minutes, Cara appeared. “Dad wants to know if everything’s okay.” “She can’t get the door open. Mom, can you try the lock again?”asked Judith. “Just turn it.” At last, the lock turned slowly and Evelyn emerged with fear in her eyes. Judith tried the lock several times and she got it to work just fine.. “It’s okay, gramma,” Cara said, walking Evelyn back to the table. .

She was clearly shaken. “What happened?” Asked Dale. Judith mouthed the words “she couldn’t figure out how to unlock it.” Soon, dinner was over and the family all piled into the car once again. They were only a hundred miles or so from Denver, now. Cara and Jayce sat in the back with Evelyn.

Suddenly, Jayce called out “Ohh man! Mom, the seat is all wet back here. I think gramma had an ‘accident.’” “Eww!”cried Cara, drawing her knees up and scooting against the door. Jayce leaned forward trying to find something to cover the seat. “Mom, did you have an accident?” Evelyn looked at Judith with confusion. “No, I don’t think so.” “That’s it,” Dale whispered to Judith, “you gotta get her in to see somebody.”

Chapter 2. The Diagnosis

The next morning, Judith called downstairs to Evelyn. “Mom, ya up?” Nobody answered. Judith went down and found her sitting in the chair. Her bed was still made and she was still in her clothes. “Mom, didn’t you go to bed last night?” Evelyn stared at her in silence.

Judith was able to get her mother in to see the family doctor that afternoon. After a brief exam and a complete report of all the latest incidents, she was referred to a specialist.

A few weeks later, they sat in the waiting room as Evelyn fiddled nervously with the strap on her purse. What was happening to mom? Judith wondered. She was getting so confused and forgetful. One day when she’d gone down to do laundry, she had found Evelyn’s dentures in the dryer; not to mention finding her shoe in her mini-fridge, and just recently she had had to remove her goldfish from her room when she tried to feed it pepper!

She seemed to be in a rapid decline ever since her birthday party. The family had thrown her a celebration for her seventy seventh birthday and she’d struggled to recognize many of the family members- even the ones with whom she’d lived and interacted with almost daily.

Soon, the doctor entered. He introduced himself as he shut the door and rolled his stool up next to Evelyn. He asked her several questions like what month they were in, where she was born, and if she knew who the current President of the United States was. ( Evelyn didn’t get one answer right.).

The doctor closed the manilla folder in which he had been writing. “It seems from all the tests and evaluations we’ve done that your mother is in the beginning to mid-stages of Alzheimer’s.”

Alzheimer’s! The word stung Judith’s ears. ALZHEIMER’S! The dreaded disease that steals the minds and memories of all who wander into its path. Evelyn didn’t seem to grasp all that was happening, but she sensed something was wrong. She began to cry. “No, mom. Don’t cry,” said Judith, handing her a tissue from her purse. Evelyn took the tissue, not knowing what to do with it. Judith took it from her frail, wrinkled hands and wiped her face gently. “It’s gonna be okay, mom,” Judith whispered.

The silence on the ride home was deafening. Judith’s mind swirled with emotion as Evelyn stared at her with her pale green eyes. “I don’t mind going into a home,” she said with an air of defeat. Judith didn’t know what to say. Would she be able to continue to live with them? What kind of care would she require as this horrid disease took over all of their lives - AND would Judith be able to do it on her own? Dale had been diagnosed with cancer the previous fall, so she had quit her full-time job to help him through his chemotherapy. Taking on mom’s illness was a brand-new ballgame.

3. The Siblings Meet

When they returned home, Judith called her sisters and brothers to organize a meeting regarding Evelyn’s care. She was the second in a family of seven children, and all but one lived in the state. Joshua, their oldest brother lived in New York. He would be the one most financially capable out of all the kids to take care of their mother, but his job had taken him to the East coast so he had no choice but to go. The kids all decided to meet for dinner at the local steakhouse to discuss the plans for their mother...

Judith sat at the table reserved for her family. The first to arrive was her sister Mallory. She kissed Judith and sat down. “Wow. I’m the first one here, huh?” she asked, looking for her phone in her purse. Mallory was the unorganized, flighty daughter of Evelyn’s. She was friendly and outgoing; always taking time out for others. She was a buyer for a large electronics company and although her relationship with Evelyn was good, her work kept her out of town on frequent business trips.

They continued chatting and soon their brother Shawn arrived. He pulled up a chair and sunk into it. “Ugh. I’m exhausted,” he said, putting his hard hat on the empty chair next to him. “Eww gross! Look at those filthy hands!” said Judith with a look of disgust. “Whew! You are RIPE,” complained Mallory as she waved her hand in front of her nose like a fan. “Well, whaddya expect?” Shawn spouted. I just got off work!” Shawn was a hard working laborer who adored his mom. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time off so he would swing by Dale and Judith’s to have lunch with her on occasion.

“Has anybody heard from Tess?” Everyone shook their heads. Tess was the no-show at most of the family functions. She lived a ‘bohemian-lifestyle’ in the city of Boulder, where she was attending her junior year of college. She was the ‘free spirit’ of the bunch; a self-employed ‘poet and artist’ who rarely saw their mother.

Brenda came in with her three kids in tow. “Now, sit over there you guys. I’ll buy you some french fries.” She sat down next to Judith. “These kids are gonna be the death of me!” she mumbled. Joshua wouldn’t be able to attend, of course, but offered to sit in on a live-video chat. He was a busy professional who rarely got out west to see everyone, but he called their mom at least twice a week and always remembered her birthday and Mother’s day. The last to arrive was Anthony. He was the baby. “Can we hurry this up?” he complained. He was the most self-centered of the kids. Good-looking and charming, he was never short of friends and girlfriends and family, to him, came last.

Once the family was assembled and Joshua was online, Judith filled them in on their mother’s progress (or rather, the lack thereof). Joshua agreed to set up a financial account for their mom since he was unable to help out physically. “If you can arrange a nurse or somethin’ to come in and help you a few times a week, Judith, I’ll pay for it.” That was a tremendous relief for Judith, since Evelyn’s health insurance was unwilling to pick up the full cost of an in-home caregiver. “I can stop by a few times a week and give you a break,” Mallory chimed in, “providing I get enough notice. They send me flyin’ around at all hours and days of the week, so my schedule is pretty sporadic.”

Judith was grateful for any help she could get. She was only going to work a per-diem job from home until Dale finished up his chemo, but then their father died. That’s when they decided to move Evelyn in with them. Judith may have had a little more flexibility than the others, but that wasn’t to say she didn’t have her own errands and things to do herself.

Shawn said he would help where and when he could. “Maybe I can come and take mom out for lunch, just to give you guys a break and get her out of the house.” Anthony nodded in agreement. “Me too,” he said, inattentively, as he scrolled through his phone.

Brenda would try to get by on weekends but her schedule was pretty full as she still had three small kids at home. The plans seemed to be falling into place beautifully.

“What about Tess?” Josh asked. “It’s her mom too. She needs to help.” Everyone agreed but nobody knew how to get a hold of her. She was rarely active on social media and never seemed to have a permanent residence. “I’ll try and reach out to her,” said Mallory, as she fumbled in her purse for her keys. “Oh shoot! I hope I didn’t lock my keys in my car again,” she whined. Shawn put his muscled arm around her, placing her in a headlock. “That’s our Mal!” he said with a chuckle. “Get away from me with your sweaty pits” she laughed as she shoved him playfully.

They all said goodnight and decided the plan of action would commence the following week.

4. There’s Someone Down There!

The next morning, Judith helped Evelyn get ready for their trip to the grocery store. Evelyn seemed in good spirits. She climbed right into the car and buckled her seatbelt. She even tried singing along to a song on the radio, (though her words were just a jumble of random sentences.) Once inside the store, Judith began placing various items in the cart while Evelyn held onto the handle. “Let’s see, where is the brown sugar?” Judith muttered to herself as she scanned the rows of baking goods. “There it is, I think,” replied Evelyn. She pointed to the sugar down the aisle. “I can get it.”

Judith was somewhat surprised that Evelyn could identify the sugar. Evelyn walked down and got the bag. When she started back to the cart, she stopped abruptly and looked down at the floor. “Mom? What’s wrong?’’ said Judith, walking towards her. “Go back!” yelled Evelyn. “You’ll fall in!” Judith was confused. “What are you talking about, mother?” asked Judith. Evelyn began to panic. “NO!” she screamed at Judith, putting her hand up to stop her from coming any further. “NO! You’ll fall in!!” she repeated. A small group of people had heard the commotion and were now gathered at the ends of the aisles. Judith took her arm and began to lead her back to the cart. “It’s okay mom, I’ve got ya,” she whispered, a bit embarrassed.

Evelyn stopped at every large, black tile on the floor and skirted around them, stepping only on the white ones. To her mind, the black tiles were deep, endless chasms in which those who stepped would inevitably drop.

Judith cried to herself on their ride back to the house. This was going to be a challenge unlike any she had ever experienced and she had no idea what to expect.

One morning, Cara awoke to find Evelyn standing over her while she was sleeping. “Gramma, what are you doin?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “There’s someone down there,” Evelyn said, pointing to the stairs. Fear gripped Cara’s heart as she sat up abruptly. “What?” She got up and peered out the bedroom door to the downstairs. She ran across the hall and woke her dad. Dale grabbed a large, heavy statue from off of the dresser while Judith ran to her mother. “Who was it, mom? Where did you see someone?” Judith asked her, while tying up her bathrobe. “In my room,” whispered Evelyn.

“Wait,” said Judith quietly. “Don’t you think we should call the police?” Dale walked around her on his way to Evelyn’s room, ignoring her question. He looked all around- under the bed, in closets, in the bathroom, but found no one. When Evelyn came back into the room, she gasped. “There she is again!” She pointed towards the bathroom. Dale moved towards the door and realized Evelyn was seeing her own reflection in the mirror.

5. Tess

As weeks turned into months, Judith began to get annoyed at the lack of help that the family had agreed to give her. Shawn had yet to stop by and take their mother on a lunch date. Josh had continued to send money and call, but Mallory had had to cancel her time with Evelyn because her company had changed her travel plans three or four times in the last month alone. Brenda had stopped by ONCE in the entire three months and Tess and Anthony hadn’t been by at all. Judith was just ‘burned out’.

One morning as she sat having her coffee, the phone rang. “Hello,” Judith answered.

“Guess whooo?” said the voice on the other end. It was Tess.

“Wow! Well, Hello! Where have you been hiding?”

Tess told Judith that she had taken a trip to Southeast Asia and had just returned. She wanted to see how everyone was. Judith gave her the news about their mother and Tess said she would get by to see Evelyn in the coming week.

“I have an appointment on the sixteenth I have to go to and can’t take her with me. Do you think you could maybe come over and watch her for me?” asked Judith. Tess said, “Sure. It will be great to see everyone!”

On the morning of the sixteenth, Tess arrived at Dale and Judith’s. She hugged and kissed everyone and brought them all trinkets from Cambodia. “It was a blast!” said Tess, as she sipped her hot tea. Evelyn came up from her bedroom. “Mom!” cried Tess, jumping up from her chair and embracing her. Evelyn drew back. “She doesn’t recognize you,” said Judith. Tess felt a tinge of hurt.

“Mom, I brought you a little something,” Tess announced, pulling a small package from her backpack. “Look mom, it’s a little doll!” The doll was made of cloth and glazed ceramic. She wore a brown, floral satin dress, and a tiny, straw, rice hat. Her round face had little slants for eyes and bangs painted in black fringe. Her cheeks and tiny rosebud mouth were bright red.

Evelyn took the doll gently and held it to her chest. “She loves it!” cried Judith.

Judith explained to Tess the rules for Evelyn. They had to cover all the mirrors with sheets because she thought her reflection was an intruder. “She can still go to the bathroom herself, but may need to be reminded to flush and wash her hands. Judith had her snacks and meals already prepared so she just needed Tess to keep an eye on her. I’ll be back around six,” Judith called, as she walked out the front door.

Judith had to check in every six weeks for a meeting at the home office. She worked as a Customer Care Specialist for a Business Awards Program. As she sat in the meeting, she felt as though she would nod off during the eighth presentation of the day. Suddenly, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She took it out. It was ‘HOME’ calling…

She stepped out into the hall.

“Hello?” she said softly

It was Tess and she was crying hysterically. “Judith. It’s me. Mom is missing!” Tess said between sobs. Judith became paralyzed with fear. “What? How did she get out? How long ago?” Tess said she had only laid down for a few minutes and must have dozed off to sleep. When she woke up, Evelyn was gone. “I thought I had locked both doors,” Tess continued to cry as she explained to Judith. “Jayce had come in briefly but then left again. He must have left the door unlocked.”

Judith told her supervisor about the emergency and left the meeting. Racing home, thoughts began to barrel through her mind. “What if mom gets hurt? How far could she have gone?” As she drove, her anger for Tess intensified.

She drove into the driveway and stormed into the house. “You had ONE job, Tess!” she screamed. “Yeah, but Jayce”- “It was YOU I left in charge of mom’s care. You should have been up to lock the door after Jayce left.” Cara came in from searching the neighborhood. “She’s nowhere around, mom,” she said nervously. “Did you call the police?” she asked Tess. “No, not yet.”

Judith called the police and they issued a Silver Alert for the area. In the meantime, Dale had come home and said he and Cara would drive around the community while Judith and Tess stayed near the phone.

Tess offered to drive around the neighborhood herself. “We’ll find her, I promise,” Tess said as she gathered her purse and backpack. “What? You’re leaving for good?” Judith asked. “Why are you taking your things?” “Well, yeah, I mean. I gotta go, but I was gonna look for her on my way out.”

Judith was just done with Tess. “Okay fine. GO!”

“I’m sorry,” Tess said. Judith could hardly bring herself to look at her. Tess closed the door and walked out to her car, never to be seen again.

6. Lost and Found

As the skies began to get dark, fear gripped Judith’s heart. She had called the rest of the family to let them know what had happened. She was unable to go to sleep so she sat by the phone, pouring cups upon cups of coffee. At around eleven p.m., an officer came to the door. “Hi there, are you Judith? “ “Yes,” she said. “Come in.” The officer entered and presented her with the little doll Tess had given Evelyn. “Is this your mother’s?” he asked. “Where did you find this?” Judith whispered, as her voice began to tremble. The officer explained that Tess had called and given them a description of their mother and the doll. Apparently, Evelyn had been carrying it around, cradling it all afternoon.

“We found it on the sidewalk about three doors down. We’re going to get a dog on the scent to help locate your mother.” The officer put his hand on Judith’s shoulder and assured her they would do all they could to locate Evelyn.

Early the next morning, the phone rang. Dale answered, and a smile grew wide across his face as he talked. “Yes. Yes, thank you so much!” “What?” asked Judith, her tired eyes trying to stay open. “They found your mom. She’s okay and they’re bringing her home now.”

Judith breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. Where was she?” she asked. “They found her at a house two blocks down. She was sleeping on their back patio lounge!” Judith felt a tremendous relief as she began calling all the siblings.

Mallory protested, “Judith, we’re going to have to put her somewhere where she can’t escape! I can’t believe Tess. Why would you invite our scatterbrained sister to take care of mom?” she said, with a laugh. “That girl is a space cadet!” Judith expanded on the remark. “I know, I’d forgotten how flaky she could be!”

Chapter 7: Hired Help

Good news came in the form of a letter just one week later. Evelyn had been approved for an in-home nurse part-time. The family would just need to pick up the cost for the remaining days, which Joshua had already agreed to do. The nurse was to arrive the following Monday. “Hey, great news gramma,” said Jayce, as he kissed her lightly on the head. “What?” Evelyn asked.

“You’re getting your own nurse on Monday,” he said. “I don’t WANT a nurse,” Evelyn scowled, smacking her little hands against the table in protest. Her mood swings were beginning to escalate. She was irritable and rude to the family, and she’d even sent Cara to her bedroom crying on a few occasions. “Now, mom, you’ll like her. Please, just give this a chance,” pleaded Judith.

Monday arrived and so did nurse Lydia. She was a short, chubby girl with blond curls and bright blue eyes. “Hello, I’m Lydia,” she said, shaking Judith’s hand. “And you must be Evelyn?” Evelyn looked at her with a vicious frown. “I don’t NEED a Nurse!” she yelled. Lydia knew she was going to have her work cut out for her.

“I like your doll,” said Lydia, taking the tiny ceramic hand in her fingers. “Don’t TOUCH!” growled Evelyn. “Mo-hmm!” Judith was embarrassed at her mother’s ill behavior. “It’s okay, said Lydia. “I’m used to this!” After three months of Evelyn’s unpredictable behavior, however, Lydia decided the job wasn’t for her after all. She had been scratched, punched and even had a tea cup thrown at her! (Unfortunately, three subsequent caregivers had come and gone as well.)

Besides the personality changes, Evelyn continued to exhibit behavior that was beyond the scope of Judith’s patience and capabilities. She had become another child that needed that extra attention and care. Her latest activities included trying to flush apples and socks down the toilet, locking the cat in the broom closet and attempting to escape while Jayce took out the garbage.

Dale and Judith had to make a gut-wrenching decision. It was the progression of Evelyn’s disease that made them wonder if she now required more care than Judith and the others were able to give. They decided it was time for her to go to a Special Care Facility. That evening, Judith sat by her mother’s bed, watching her sleep. Evelyn held her little doll tightly in her arms. Her frail skin and thin, gray hair, curling around her forehead reminded Judith of an angel; an angel she was surely going to miss.

Chapter 8: Moving Day

It was time for the kids to all get together once more to decide where Evelyn was going to live. Once again, Judith met them at a restaurant in town. Joshua was online and Shawn, Mallory and Brenda had all ridden together. Of course, Tess was a no-show as usual. Anthony managed to come late, but he still came.

Judith, in the meantime, had been calling around at different places and had narrowed it down to four. They all needed to decide on the one that worked best for Evelyn. They decided on Chafee’s Serenity House, a small, intimate community that dealt with special needs and Alzheimer’s patients.

The big move was on a Friday. Mallory, Shawn and Judith were the first ones to arrive and assist in getting their mother settled in. Brenda would come and help once her husband Jay got off work, so he could watch the kids. Anthony picked up Jayce from the house so he could come and help the guys move her furniture. Tess, of course, was absent. Ya know, I’m getting really sick of this,” griped Anthony. “Tess is never available to make the decisions, help in mom’s care and now, she’s not even here to help us move her.” “I know, I know,” responded Judith.

“Seriously? It’s not fair,” griped Mallory. “I mean, I even had to cancel my trip to Atlanta for this.”

Shawn spouted, “Well, you don’t have much room to talk, brother,” he said looking at Anthony. “You didn’t exactly ‘step up’ when it was time to watch mom.” (Of course, Judith had the same idea about Shawn!) “Whoa, who went over for lunch when YOU didn’t, bro?” quipped Anthony.

“Alright, you guys, knock it off. Nobody’s worse than anybody else,” said Brenda. "‘Cept Tess,” chuckled Anthony.

Chapter 9: A Fond Farewell

As the afternoon wore on, Evelyn’s room at Chaffee’s began to take shape. It was beginning to look like her old bedroom once again. She sat in a chair, hardly talking now as she watched people taking her scant possessions and putting them in drawers and closets. Her lamp and throw pillows were set in place.

“Now, let me have your doll, mom. We can put it on your nightstand.” The girls looked for the little doll from Tess that Evelyn always carried with her. “Mom, where is it? Where’s your doll?” They looked in her sweater pockets and underneath her lap blanket. It was nowhere to be found. “Mom, where’s the little doll Tess gave you?” asked Mallory, getting closer to her face. Evelyn began to cry. She cupped her hands and held them close to her chest. “She knows,” said Judith. “She knows her doll is missing.”

As Shawn entered the room, he said ‘Welp, this is the last of it.” “Did you see that little china doll of mom’s?” Judith asked. “Oh what, the little glass one with the hat? Yeah, I threw it away. It got crushed underneath her chair.”

“We can get her another doll,” said Mallory, scrolling through her phone. “Okay, if we’re done here, I gotta run. ‘Bye mom,” said Mallory, kissing her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you another doll that you’ll love just as much:”

Judith gave her mother a long hug and a big kiss. “Mom, we’ll all be by to see you during the week, ok? Just relax, now. Here. Why don’t you look at some television,” she said, clicking the remote. Shawn knelt down next to Evelyn. “Mom, we love ya. We’ll be coming by to check on you, I promise.” He hugged and kissed her and left the room before the others could see him tearing up.

Chapter 10: A Sad Piece of News

Another seven months had passed and Evelyn was progressively getting worse. She hardly spoke at all now. Her verbal cues were reduced to grunts and shouts. She had lost a considerable amount of weight and spent most of her time in bed. Every morning, she sat by the window watching the cars go by, not even knowing what they were now. The nurses propped her up in case any visitors came by but the visits were pretty much non-existent now.

Her laptop, which Josh had gotten her, was set up to receive video-chats from him, but even those were becoming more scarce. He was now a Vice President and was unable to call as often as he once did.

Shawn had been in jail for a DUI and mounting traffic tickets, so he had been missing in action for a while.

Mallory would call to say ‘hi,” but rarely got a chance to pop in between business trips, so she’d just leave messages for her mother with the nurses.

Tess had not been in touch with anyone in over six months and Anthony kept saying he would stop by but never did.

As for Brenda, since she had taken on a part-time job and was now working every weekend, she was unable to come by at all.

Judith and Dale were still trying to visit, but they too had circumstances in their lives that prevented them from seeing Evelyn as promised. Dale’s cancer had returned, so Judith was preoccupied with his care.

At last, it was Evelyn’s birthday and everyone had made an extra effort to try and visit. It was indeed a rare sight to see everyone together again. (Almost everyone.)

Mallory and Brenda met up with Judith, while Shawn drove out to pick up Joshua who had flown in from New York. Even Anthony came. “Well, look who’s here,” uttered Brenda. “If it aint the prodigal son!”

“‘Tess not here?” Anthony said, sarcastically. “Big surprise.” They all laughed and joked about Shawn driving to go get Josh. “Let’s hope he doesn’t stop for a beer!” said Mallory with a chuckle.

They went into the facility and found their mother in her room, lying in her bed. She looked so tiny and frail. She was curled up in a fetal position under a mound of blankets. Mallory leaned in to kiss her and noticed she was cradling a doll. It looked exactly like the one that Tess had gotten her in Cambodia.

“Look at this,” she whispered. She tried to take the doll, but Evelyn grasped her frail, withered hands around it ever so tightly.

A nurse came into the room. “Ya all good in here?” she asked. “Excuse me, where did my mom get this doll?” asked Judith. ‘Your sister sent it.” “What sister?” asked Mallory, looking at Judith and Brenda with confusion. “Your sister, Tess.”

The kids all looked at one another in surprise. “TESS?” they all repeated together? ”Yes,” replied the nurse. She was able to find the exact doll that your mom had lost on her return trip to Cambodia.” “Wait. You say TESS sent it?” Mallory reiterated.

“Yes,” replied the nurse. She sent it out before she passed -and I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”

An audible gasp filled the room. “Passed? AWAY?” Shawn asked. Judith began to cry. “I’m sorry. Didn’t you know about Tess?” the nurse uttered, holding her hand to her lips. “NO!” they all said. Questions erupted from all sides of the room. “What happened?” “When?” “Are you sure?”

The nurse was reluctant to say anymore. “I’m so sorry. I feel awful breaking the news to you. I thought surely y’all knew.” “She was sort of estranged from the family,” said Brenda, holding back the tears.

“Well, we found out she had died in a river boating accident in Cambodia, just last month. I would have thought someone would have contacted your family. I mean, we did tell your mother, but being in the state she’s in now, I don’t think she really realizes, and we haven’t seen any of y’all since it happened.”

The siblings all grappled with their own emotions about Tess. They were embarrassed to admit that they had not spoken highly of her, especially in the last months, and now they began to regret it. In their self-reflections, some sat on the bed and wept, while others stood alone with their arms folded tightly around themselves. The girls embraced and Anthony stood at the window with a blank stare… and Evelyn just laid there, oblivious to their loss, drowning in the void of her own mind.

Chapter 11: Boxed Memories

Another two months passed and Judith received the call she had been dreading. Evelyn had died during the night. She sat on the porch, nursing a cup of coffee when Dale came out. “I love you, hon,” he said, trying to comfort her. “I love you too,” she said, smiling through her tears. The family had barely gotten over the news about Tess.

Later that afternoon, a van from Chaffee’s drove up in front of the house. “Hello,” said the driver as Judith answered the door. “I have your mother’s personal effects from the facility.” He handed her a large box and said they would be delivering whatever furniture the family wanted to keep the following week. Everyone agreed that Evelyn’s furniture should be donated to the facility or thrown away.

Judith thanked him and took the box into the dining room where she placed it on the table. The lap blanket that Evelyn wore, her lamp, photos and laptop were all wrapped neatly in plastic. There was an unopened letter addressed to her, and at the bottom of the box, in bubble wrap, lay the little doll. Judith took it out and placed it on the mantle.

We found this among your mother’s things. It had been stuck in a drawer. (sorry!), the sticky note read, attached to the envelope. She opened it and found a letter sent from Tess when she was in Cambodia the second time.

Chapter 12: The End

She unfolded the letter and began to read:

Dearest mom,

Well, here I am, back in Cambodia, my restless spirit on the move again! I hope this letter finds you well and your nurses will read this to you when you get it. I’m enclosing a surprise for you! I miss you AND my sisters and brothers. It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen or talked to any of them!

I know they never understood my way of life. I’m sure to all of you I seemed ‘reckless and impulsive’ at times; like a little bird never knowing where to land, but believe it or not mom, you were a lot like me….

I remember the days you used to come outside and “plop” down in the cool, green grass for an “impromptu” tea-party with me. You’d wake from a dead sleep to slay the monsters in my room so that I myself might slumber in peace. You shaded me from the burning sun, shielded me from the freezing winters, and danced with me in the pouring rain. At my school plays, it was a joy to look out in the audience and see your beautiful, smiling face. You were always there to ‘cheer me on,’ even when my siblings weren’t. I know I wasn’t always the easy kid, but my heart was sincere. Perhaps I just didn’t know how to feel that acceptance from my siblings, so I chose to stay away. In the end though, I came to realize, a family’s deepest love for each other can never be quelled by distance, if the bond they have in their hearts remains close.

I love you mom,

Xoxo, Tess.

The emotions welled up inside of Judith. She took the little doll and held it to her chest, remembering both of her angels. Her mother; whose weak body and frail mind were unsurpassed only by her strong, undying love, and Tess, the woman who dared to express her love for their mother in the most honorable way she knew how - by emulating her. “Sleep well, my Angels,” said Judith, and she carried the doll off to bed.