Declue Funeral Home — Obits ^hot^

But tonight, the cursor blinked on a blank screen, and for the first time, the name in her notes was her own.

Margaret kept going, not as an obituary, but as a letter. She wrote about the time Henry refinanced the funeral home’s mortgage to buy a stray dog a $4,000 surgery. About how he sang off-key to every body he prepared, saying, “Can’t send ‘em off in silence.” About the way he held her hand at the movies even when his arthritis screamed. declue funeral home obits

She typed slowly: Henry Charles Declue, 78, of Willow Creek, passed away April 12… But tonight, the cursor blinked on a blank

By morning, people had added their own postscripts in pen. He taught me to tie a fly. He buried my stillborn son and cried with me. He gave me a job when no one else would. About how he sang off-key to every body

Sarah laughed through her nose. “He loved that stupid joke.”

Margaret stood on the porch, reading the crowd’s tribute. A young man she didn’t recognize handed her a coffee—black, two sugars. “Henry said you forget to eat.”