Chapter 05

Funeral

The funeral service is in the large chapel of the funeral parlour which is beside the cemetery. The parlour staff are surprised to find it’s standing room only, so the media are asked to leave to make room for more family and friends. The owners are a bit concerned because they can tell the number of mourners in the chapel exceeds the approved capacity level but no one wants to make anyone leave, other than the media people.

The front row is taken up with family; the Cables, the Watsons, and the Constables. Followed by the Cable Company - which includes the whole of the PA Club, the cheerleader team, the athletics team, and many others. Then most of the teaching staff, all of them who had regular contact with Ernie, and Ernie’s classmates. Neighbours and other students pack the hall. Lisa Simpson sits with her sister because she’s an external member of the Cable Company, the same way Lee is.

Melissa stands to give a speech first. “Thank you all for coming and showing your respect for Ernie, and your support for us, his immediate family. I know you all loved Ernie, some more than others, just as he loved us all, some more than others. His going leaves a big gap in all of our lives. But his spirit lives on within us all, and as long as we live up to his spirit it will grow and help fill that gap. Within a few days of coming into our school community he started making an impression on us. Looking back, I’m amazed we didn’t notice him for the first few days, but when we did notice him we couldn’t not notice him. I fell in love with him the first time I was in the same room with him, he swept me off my feet, both literally and emotionally. That afternoon a small group of people started to form with Ernie as our leader and centre of focus. Very soon we set about finding a name for ourselves, like most groups focussed around an individual we wanted to name ourselves after him, but he objected to every name that made it obviously specific to him. We finally came to an agreement on the name The Cable Company, we then started to talk about how we would restrict it and operate as a clique. However, Ernie had different ideas to us and he carefully talked us around to his way of thinking. Later on, when I thought about that morning’s conversation, I realised how subtle and careful he was in having us establish the club rules exactly how he wanted them. The focus was no longer on him but on our attitudes and behaviours and helping others. I later learnt how typical this was of my man.”

She takes a short break to wipe her eyes, “Not yet sixteen, yet a man in all of the meanings and definitions of the word, a mature adult in every way. Under his guidance The Cable Company became a group that welcomes everyone who has the right attitude and behaviours or is close enough we can guide them the rest of the way. We also started adopting people with the right potential, to lead them in the right direction. All in the group have grown as a person and improved academically since joining. The Company is the only school group I know of, or heard of, that isn’t bound by a single activity like the cheerleader team and the PA Club, or by a single age or year group like most of the personal clubs. Ernie was the core that started the club, but he imbued it with his attitudes and spirit by passing them on to the other members. Then the most amazing thing happened, through his example and guidance the members started passing his spirit and attitudes on to others, the new Company members, other students we dealt with on a regular basis, our families, and anyone we came into contact with. The Ernie that was my man, my lover, my husband, the father of the child growing within me.” A mild gasp amongst the audience because this hadn’t yet been made public, “The physical body of him is what we lay to rest today.”

She takes a deep breath, “The Ernie that is our mentor and guide still lives on within each of us he came in contact with, but most importantly, it lives on so strongly within The Cable Company every time I’m with a few members of the Company I can feel his hand in mine, his body beside me, his spirit walking with us and guiding us still. I ask you all to continue in the way and spirit he taught us, and to pass on his spirit to others. I ask this, because as long as The Cable Company continues in this way so will his spirit continue to walk the halls of the school and the streets of our city. In this way we will have him with us for the rest of our lives and pass his guidance on to future generations. As many of you have guessed, I was his main love and became his wife, but he loved you all, too. Thank you. His spirit lives!”

Margaret is to give the main eulogy. Melissa felt this should be given by a member of his family that knew him all his life and he was very close to. The fact Ernie chose Margaret to confide in about his illness was the deciding factor in this choice.

Walking to the lectern to start her eulogy she takes care to think over her speech. Placing the notes on the lectern she takes a deep breath as she looks out over the assembled mourners. “All of you are here because you came to know and love our Ernie, but you only knew the Ernie that came into being here, not the Ernie that some of us grew up with.” She stops to let that sink in while she watches many eyes go very wide when they wonder where she’s going. “I have to agree the Ernie we knew here is a great deal better than the Ernie I knew before he moved here, but I happen to know it wasn’t just the move. He lived in the house behind mine for the last few weeks of the school holidays and he was still the extremely shy and reticent Ernie I’d previously come to know and love. The genius recluse who could always help me find a solution to a problem, the same boy who would walk several blocks to avoid a crowd of people, the same boy who had panic attacks when he became the focus of attention of any group larger than five and it included more than two people who weren’t close family. The same boy who needed a nurse after having a panic attack trying to walk in front of his class to accept a prize in year one. The same boy whose only interest in a girl was to do with how well she played the sport because she was on his team.”

After a short break to let that sink in she continues, “A few of you may recognise that Ernie because that’s the one you came into contact with in the first few days he was at the school, but that changed one day. On the Wednesday afternoon when I watched the metamorphosis of my shy cousin right before my eyes, it wasn’t like watching a butterfly fight its way out of a cocoon, it was like watching a chemical reaction where you have a small amount of material in the bottom of a large vessel and add another very small amount of another material, and then watch it react in the way it rapidly expands over a thousand times in size as it fills the vessel and then boils upward and over the sides. I’d asked Ernie to help us get a new piece of equipment for the Performing Arts Club working, and he agreed to help. I’d asked because he’s a wizard with mechanical things, and he agreed because I’d asked him. As a favour to me he came to our rehearsal and fixed the device. The club applauded his efforts and he got very embarrassed, he was starting to have a panic attack as he looked at the club members. Then he froze, I thought he was about to have another major fit with his panic attack, but he suddenly smiled. I’ve seen him smile before, but it was nothing like the smile he gave this time, his whole face lit up with an inner light. I remember thinking I wished I could make someone smile at me like that. I turned to see who or what had his attention, but everyone had turned back to get ready for the next scene. I expected him to leave, but he sat to watch us. Several minutes later Jason made a hash of a scene by dropping Melissa on her rear, quite painfully. I saw a flash of anger cross Ernie’s face simply because I was behind Melissa and he was directly in front of her from my angle. I wondered if the smile was for Melissa, and I was surprised at the thought as he’d never shown an interest in girls in that way. The third time Jason messed up the scene Ernie gave out with a very derisive laugh, the whole cast was upset and showed their anger. Ernie was challenged to do the scene. I nearly collapsed with shock when he agreed and jumped up on the stage to do it. We redid the scene, and he did it perfectly when he delivered his lines with an authority and depth of voice I’d never before heard from him. With great confidence he walked on stage and swept Melissa into his arms then kissed her while he walked off the stage with her in his arms. He returned and exchanged witty repartee with Missus Miller about playing the part only if he gets to kiss Melissa a few times. I watched them closely, from the moment he picked Melissa up he never broke contact with her. He kept his arm around her as they came back on stage, held her hand as she packed up, pulled her after him as he collected his script and things, and he held her hand all the way home. And Melissa was the same. She was the catalyst that created the Ernie we all learned to know and love, she and his spirit are still with us.”