Magic in Costa Rica

Stone Cold

I stood in front of Mrs. De Luca's casket, frozen at the sight of her cold body. Her skin was gray and smooth, almost like clay, it was hard to believe she was even real. But the most disturbing part of it all was how peaceful she looked. In all the time I had known her, never once had she looked peaceful. She always had something to do, somewhere to be (usually church) or something to worry about. It was hard to see her lying still. Well, how did you expect them to lay me, doing jumping jacks? I could almost hear her voice in my head. Almost. I stared, unable to move or say or do anything, until my dad came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, honey. Let's go." He coaxed me down the line and I stumbled along, still in a fog. I stopped when I got to George, Mrs. De Luca's brother.

"Alma," he said, taking my hand in his, "it's good to see you. Sofia would be so glad you're here," he smiled warmly.

"Thanks, George," I mustered up as much of a smile as I could, "I'm so sorry for your loss. Mrs. De Luca was my favorite customer at the diner, and such a wonderful woman." George nodded and squeezed my hand before reaching into his coat pocket.

"She wanted me to give this to you," he said, handing me a letter. I took it, stunned. He shook his head sadly. "I think she knew it was her time, and I found a bunch of letters piled up next to her in bed."

"Was she..." my voice trailed off, but George understood.

"She died peacefully in her sleep, no suffering at all."

"Huh," I paused. Again, peacefully wasn't really the way I would expect her to go.

"I know," George chuckled, "not really the way you would expect her to go, right?" I smiled and thanked George for the letter before shaking his hand once more and moving down the line. My dad met Laurie as she came in and accompanied her the same as he had done for me. I waited awkwardly by the door, anxiously waiting to get home and open the letter. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Chris standing beside me.

"Chris," I sighed and wrapped him into a hug, "I'm so glad you're here." Chris hugged me back, squeezing his arms tightly around my waist and resting his chin on top of my head. Wordlessly, we embraced, and when we drew apart I noticed his cheeks were stained with tears. I reached up to wipe them off his face and he tried to regain his composure.

"How are you keeping it together so well?" he sniffed. "I barely even knew her and I'm crying, I can't imagine how you're feeling."

"I don't know. To be honest, I just feel sort of numb inside, and frozen on the outside. I don't think it's really hit me yet," I shrugged. Chris nodded.

"You should go home and get some rest. Are you going to the funeral?"

"Oh, I don't know. Are you?"

"Yeah, Dad wants the whole family to be there. She was one of our most loyal customers, after all," he tried to crack a joke, but it fell flat. "I can give you a ride if you want. I'm just gonna leave school early."

"Thanks, I'll do the same," I nodded. My dad came back with Laurie and I waved to Chris. "See you tomorrow," I said as we headed out the door.

"See you tomorrow, Alma," he smiled, wiping another tear from his cheek. My dad and I drove home in silence, and when we got home I went immediately to my room to open the letter. Mrs. De Luca's words were written in loopy, cursive handwriting, but thanks to all the practice I had deciphering Mr. Miller's messy handwriting, I read it with ease.

Dear Alma,

First of all, I don't want you to be sad. I know I don't look it, but I'm already 91 years old, and I've lived a good, long life. I've done a lot in my day, if you can believe it. I was a dentist for forty five years, so I know a lot about pulling teeth, and let me tell you; getting you to open up was the hardest tooth I've ever had to pull! I know we mostly talked about the weather, or coffee, and sometimes boys, but I like to think that I've seen you grow up quite a bit since your first week at Stewart's. When you first started working, you reminded me of my granddaughter, but now, you remind me of myself when I was a young lady. I can see that you're full of passion and determination, just like I was when I was your age, and still am!