Pillars of Love

room." He stumbled over his words. She could see that he was missing his father and wished she could help relieve his grief somehow. But she knew it would take time. "I’d like to clean up," she said. "Sounds good. Me too. Afterwards, we can meet in the kitchen and see what we can find for dinner.” "After dinner, we can pack up the car and go straight to bed. So, we can get an early start tomorrow, right after breakfast." When Tom came downstairs, Jillian was already making spaghetti sauce. She asked him to make a salad. Tom cut the vegetables, while Jillian stood close by preparing spaghetti sauce over the pan; it's rich tomato-ey aroma filling the kitchen. Once the food was prepared, Jillian set the table while Tom got the silverware. She served the spaghetti while Tom served the salad. They sat opposite and ate in silence as metal scraped against the porcelain. “Let's get the supplies packed and get to bed.”Jillian said as she rinsed her plate. Tom followed suit and set his plate on the counter. "Let’s have a glass of wine first.” As they moved to the couch in front of the fireplace, Tom brought out a bottle of Pinot Grigio. After he poured it into the two glasses, he smiled sadly. “He would have swirled it like this and said something like, ‘smell that great aroma.’ I would reply ‘I can only smell wine’.’” Tom shared memories of his childhood. Jillian could feel the sadness, but more so, the love in the memories. "I hate to do this, but we need to get up and pack the car," Jillian said. They went out to the garage and found two backpacks which they filled with cooking gear. They also found two tents and two sleeping bags and added them to the pile. Tom quickly added ammunition to his backpack and added a holster to the pile. He would put it on before they left in the morning. Jillian quietly watched. She was uncomfortable with the gun, but didn't feel it was her place to object. Once they had packed the car, Tom walked Jillian to the guest room. He hesitated. "It seems wrong to say this somehow, but I enjoyed spending the evening with you." "Me too. Good night." Smiling at Tom in the hallway, Jillian slipped into the room. Tanya Later in the Day of Darkness Murfreesboro, TN Tanya felt better after they decided to meet in Monterey and figure out what to do from there. At least they would be together. “But there’s something I have to do first. I have to bury Jim and Chris.” Alecia and Jillian hated the grief they heard in her voice. “We love you. Set your GPS for Point Pinos Lighthouse and look for the beacon when you get to California.” Feeling the love of her friends, Tanya braced herself for what she needed to do. She went into the garage and got the pick and shovel. Out in the yard, she moved aside the hammock under the big oak tree. Jim had loved to lie there after work with a cold beer beside him. Often, he had little Chris laying on his stomach. She had loved watching them out the kitchen window when she was cooking dinner. Today, she would lay them under the oak tree together and forever. With the pick and shovel, she began digging a hole in the hard ground. How deep was a grave supposed to be? How deep so the animals didn't get to them? And the bugs and worms, they would get to them no matter what. Tanya sank to the ground with deep gulping sobs. She didn't think she could bear it. She grabbed her cell phone, as if grabbing a lifeline. “Alecia” she sobbed, “I can't bury them for the worms to crawl through. I can't do it.” Deep, heartbreaking sobs came through the phone and tore at Alecia”s heart.. Alecia gave her the consolation that she thought would help. “Oh Tanya, honey, I can only imagine how hard this is for you. But reme