“I totally forgot about that, yeah we have come along way from the miscreants we used to be.” John replied. John enjoyed seeing his old high school friend and normally would love to sit and chat, but John had a lot on his mind. “Good to talk Bob, I’ll see you when I come back through.”
“Not unless it’s within the hour, my shift is ending.” Bob said
John did not hear the last comment; his mind was already thinking about the task at hand. He knew very little about the family Bishop Jerry had asked him to assist. He knew that the Father had passed away a month earlier, he was one of the first deaths, in the area, during this second more severe wave of the pandemic. And the mother had been admitted to the hospital two weeks earlier, her condition was critical. The children had remained in state supported quarantine at their home for the last two weeks. But now they were cleared to go, Jerry asked if I could take them into my home until the mother recovered or one of their extended family became available to assist.
John knew there were many families who were now in quarantine and others who had lost loved ones, now was not the time to be selfish. He cringed at himself while remembering the admonition from Jerry that we need to see others the way Jesus would. Which John knew was true but also knew that Jerry was laying a guilt trip on him. As John continued to drive, he couldn’t help but feel trapped and even felt a little manipulated.
John had challenged Jerry about the appropriateness of a single man caring for four children.
“I get it,” Jerry had said, “But there is no other option. But you won’t be alone all the time. I have asked some of the sisters from the congregation to help during the day. Sister Miller has been assigned to check on you and coordinate any help you need.”
It took John five minutes to reach to next check point into the Pleasant Gardens subdivision, but it seemed almost instantaneous. As he showed his medical reports and ID to the Police officer and waved through, his heart started beating. Emotions started creeping up his internal organs lodging at the bottom of his throat. The GPS gave him turn by turn directions, but john kept praying something would go wrong and he would have to turn down the wrong street and get lost.
As he pulled up to the house, he saw Sister Jennifer Miller from church gathering up the yellow caution tape and removing the quarantine signs from the outside of the house. He sat and watched her for a moment. She lost her husband Garrett about the same time John lost Mandy. While John had turned inward and almost completely had isolated himself from the rest of the world since, Jennifer had reached out to others.
Jennifer had tried to keep regular contact with John, asking if he wanted to talk, but John had resisted. He didn’t feel like two people who had experienced so much loss could help each other. He felt like all it would do is bring up everything he wanted to forget. Besides she had two kids of her own to care for, John felt that she should spend her time and energy with them.
For a brief second before he opened the door John allowed himself to smile. He was watching this woman serve this family, knowing exactly what loss she had experienced. And he wouldn’t admit it to himself, but he also found her attractive.
“Hello Sister Miller,” John said as he walked on the lawn toward her.
“You can call me Jen,” She said with a smile.
“So, what’s the plan, here?” he continued ignoring her last comment.
“Do you remember meeting Geoff and Michelle last Christmas at the party?” Sister Miller asked.
“Maybe?” John thought back on the night, several of the brother and sisters had basically dragged him out of his house to go to the party.
“Geoff is the one who teased you and said he and the other men were going to pick you up and throw you in his hummer.”
“OK, yeah I remember.”
“I introduced you to both he and Michelle later that evening. Well anyway, this is their family.”
“How is the mother doing?”
“Not very well, the doctor has been giving me updates, even though I’m not family, and he told me this morning she stabilized over night, but she could still go either way.”
John pushed another wave of emotion down, “What about the extended family, do they know what is going on?”
“Geoff doesn’t have any family. He was an only child and his parents passed away several years ago before the virus ever hit. And he doesn’t seem to have any other living relatives. Michelle has been estranged from her family ever since she joined our church and married John. And here is the other piece, they don’t have a will or anything stating who should get the kids.”
“Well I can’t imagine the state allowing me to take them without some way of showing guardianship. Will they?” John said.
“We think that eventually they may allow it, but instead of having to go through all the rigmarole now, I just told them you were Geoff’s brother. It’s a good thing that Taylor is a relatively common last name.”
“Oh, I don’t know, this could get me into a lot of trouble.”
“If not, these kids would have to remain under state care for months, and they are likely going to be split up.” Sister Miller said, john could hear her strong will in the words. “You don’t even have to do anything; the state workers are so busy they already have had to leave and left me to finish up here. I did all of the lying.”
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