Alex was so torn up over the loss of Ian he wasn't eating or drinking, he was depressed and you could see it written all over his face. The loss of Ian was devastating and it really brought home for me the fact that, while Alex was in fact in the reserves, we were still at war. He could be called up any minute to deploy. I comforted Alex the best I could in the week to come, that week was Ian's memorial.
The memorial was held at his family home, it was a beautiful sprawling two story colonial style home. When we got there, there were cars strewn in the drive-way and on the parking spots on the street surrounding the house. Ian must have been truly loved, in my experience with him, he was sweet, kind, intelligent, and funny.
We were greeted at the door by his sister, she was beautiful. Tall, fair skinned, with dark hair and light eyes. She had a kindness about her when she spoke.
"Alex, long time no see, or hear. You forget you owned a phone?" She teased. Alex looked down at the ground bashfully. He nudged him on the arm. "Oh, I'm just kidding, come in, come in! Who's this?" She motioned towards me and I smiled and waited for Alex to introduce us. He looked slightly startled and straightened himself.
"Olivia, this is Keely. She's my girlfriend. She knew Ian, we've been together since before he shipped out." And with that, his face sunk. I could feel that mine had as well. I looked up and Olivia had the saddest smile I've ever seen, she shook her head and spoke again.
"Today is a celebration of his life, he wouldn't want us to be all sad and upset. He'd want us to party and think of all the good times we had while he was here. So let's do that. We'll make today about all the things that we loved about him. Today is about honoring his memory." She turned to me. "It's so nice to meet you Keely. Come in, come in!" She gestured us inside the door.
When we walked in, there was a beautiful foyer strewn with flowers and sitting on a stand near the entrance was a framed picture of Ian. He was hugging a beautiful ash brown haired, green eyed woman, but I didn't recognize her. I don't think he ever mentioned a girlfriend, but maybe I missed it. There was a family room to our right and a dining room to our left. People were scattered throughout these two rooms holding conversations that I couldn't really make out. Olivia led us into the living room and on the couch we're Ian's parents Martha and Ben, next to them sat the woman in the picture. She had tears in her eyes but she was trying to hold a conversation with Martha. When we walked in Martha stood up and embraced Alex in a hug.
"Oh, Alex! It's been too long, we've missed you." She held him in a hug for a minute and then let him go, hands still on his shoulders and looked at him and smiled. She seemed to look around him to see me and exclaimed. "Oh my goodness! Who's this beautiful lady?" Alex looked back at me and gestured towards me.
"Ms.Martha, let me introduce Keely." I smiled at her and waved slightly but to my surprise she embraced me as well.
"Welcome! It's so nice to meet you. I'm Martha. Thank you so much for coming to celebrate my little Ian. God, I miss him so much..." Tears welled up in her eyes and I could feel how deeply she felt this loss.
"I'm so sorry about Ian." I said. "If you need anything, please let Alex and I know. He was an amazing person and is gone so incredibly soon."
She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm forgetting my manners." She gestured to her husband and the woman on the couch. "This is Ben, Ian's father, and this is Lilly, Ian's fiancé."
"So nice to meet you." I smiled and gave them a little wave.
The rest of the evening was a mixture of celebration and mourning. Each person had amazing stories to tell about Ian and how he lit up any room he entered, how he was generous and kind to everyone he met. And, how he was taken much too soon. As the evening wound down, people began leaving. I was sitting on their back porch listening to the cars drive away and smelling the fresh evening air when Lilly came out and sat in the chair next to me.
"Nice night isn't it?" She smiled and looked, it was nearing sundown and there was a mixture of pinks, reds, and oranges dancing in the sky. I looked at her and nodded.
"It is. I came out to get some fresh air. Lilly was it?" I asked. She nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, it's so nice to officially meet you. Ian spoke a lot about you guys." She looked down. "Life's so unfair..."
I looked over at her and reached out my hand and touched her shoulder. "I'm so sorry this happened Lilly, Ian is gone far too soon. He was an amazing man."
She nodded and gave a slight smile. "He really was."
We left later on in the evening after giving everyone hugs and letting them know to reach out to us if they needed anything.
Alex and I spent the rest of the night together. As we lay there he turned towards me and stared into my eyes.
"Thank you." He whispered. I was confused for a second and asked why. "For always being there for me. I really appreciate it. This has been such a hard time and you've been there for me every step of the way. I won't get over this in a week, or a month, or even years from now, but I'm really happy you're here with me." I smiled and gave him a kiss.
"I'll always be here." I whispered and we fell asleep.
