Cannot Wait to Get to Heaven - Fannie Flagg [110]
“And I love you too,” she said.
“I know you do…but sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do, things that…” He struggled for the right words. “Things that seem…but in the long run are really…You know Norma worries about you living all alone, and she thinks maybe it would be best if you were in a place where there were people around to look out for you.”
Elner looked out into the yard, but did not say anything.
Macky sat there feeling sick.
After a while she looked over at him. “Do you think I should go on out there, Macky?”
He took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“Oh,” she said. “Well, if you think it’s best.”
“I do, honey.”
They sat saying nothing for a while, then she asked, “Can I take Sonny?”
“No, I’m afraid not, they don’t allow pets.”
“I see, well, like I say, he’s a nice cat, but he’s not my cat, but you will find a good home for him, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“When do I have to go?”
He looked at her. “When do you want to go?”
“Can I wait till after Easter?”
Easter was only a few weeks away, so Macky said, “Sure.”
Getting Ready
9:30 AM
In the following few days, they helped Elner pack up the few things she wanted to take: her glass paperweight with the Empire State Building inside, a few photographs of Will and of little Apple, and her picture of the dancing mice. She had given most everything else away. A lot went to neighbors, and she gave her five bulldog doorstoppers to Louise Franks, who had always admired them.
Two days after Easter, the day they were to pick her up and drive her out to Happy Acres, Macky woke up with a pit in his stomach, and even though she knew it was for the best, Norma felt the same way. Ruby was going out with them to help get Elner settled in, but still Macky felt like a hundred-pound weight was on his chest. After Elner had agreed to go, she had surprised both of them at how she had accepted the inevitable. Macky almost wished she had fought it more; her being so accommodating and trying not to make them feel bad only made him feel worse. He was shaving and Norma was running her bath when the phone rang.
“That’s probably her, Macky, tell her we’ll be there by ten.”
He wiped off his face and walked into the bedroom and picked up the phone.
Norma turned the water off and stepped into the tub and sat down. She did not hear Macky and called out, “Honey, was that her?”
But he did not answer. “Macky?”
Macky was still sitting on the bed, and he smiled as he thought, “Well, the old gal got what she wanted after all.” He stood up and went to the bathroom to tell Norma that they would not be taking her to Happy Acres after all.
And although nobody but Elner knew it, the wish she had wished for on the first star every night for so many years had finally come true. Ruby had just informed him that when she went over to Elner’s house a few minutes ago, she had found that Elner had died peacefully in her sleep, at home in her own bed.
A Final Good-bye
A day after Elner died, Cathy Calvert ran the same obituary in the paper that Elner had read at the hospital and liked so much, and it pleased Cathy to know she had gotten a chance to see it. Only the date had been changed.
When Verbena Wheeler called the Bud and Jay show to tell them that Elner Shimfissle had died, Bud listened politely and said, “Thank you very much for calling, Mrs. Wheeler.” But he did not announce it right away. He said to Jay, “I’m giving it a week, to be on the safe side.”
True to her word, Norma did not hold a funeral, but a few weeks later, according to Elner’s wishes, her ashes were scattered out behind her house at sunset, and also according to her wishes, Luther Griggs stood with the family during the ceremony. When it was over and Norma turned around she had been surprised to see what looked like the entire town quietly gathered in the yard, all come to say good-bye to Elner. She would be missed, that was clear.
As it turned out, a few months later, Luther and Bobbie Jo wound up buying Elner’s house