Carolyn noticed that his dark blue suit was a bit too large for him, probably because Maryann had had to find something quickly off the rack that couldn’t be altered in time. His red tie was also a bit too long, probably borrowed from his uncle. He was a little boy, dressed like a man, having to do something no one should ever experience. Christopher didn’t dare tell anyone, but he too suspected he had done something to cause his dad to do what he did.

“Oh, Chris,” Carolyn said as she pulled him onto her lap. She kept repeating his name and hugging him, before handing him over to Mitch, who pretty much did the same. There are times when there just aren’t any words that can, or need to, be said, and this was certainly one of those moments. Chris looked over Mitch’s shoulder and noticed Evan’s little league teammates, decked out in their jerseys. He waved to them and then returned to his seat, because it was obvious the service was about to begin.

The scene before the altar was gut-wrenching: two caskets, one a matte white with golden handles adorned with a spray of pink roses and baby’s breath. The other was light blue, and covered with a baseball jersey that simply read “Evan.” That box looked tiny by comparison. For some reason, Carolyn was reminded of a duckling trailing its mother. All eyes in the church were trained on this simple setting. Over to one side, there were slides of the Turner family, enjoying the beach, Christmas season, birthday parties, baseball games, and other benchmarks of family life. The slides changed every few seconds, and repeated numerous times while everyone sat and whispered to one another or stared at the screen, lost in their thoughts. Included was the high school photo of Rachel kissing a smiling Carolyn.

Finally Reverend Kirkpatrick approached the pulpit. The screen discreetly went dark and the incidental organ music gave way to the staccato notes that introduced Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” The singer, an attractive young woman whose face was framed by long, wavy dark hair, gently placed her fingers on the shoulder of the pianist in an apparent attempt to steady herself, and together they performed the simple yet beautiful paean to the mother of Jesus and all mothers.