Date: November 2018
Chandler once heard that death is hardest on the living. He is not sure where he heard it before, maybe it was in a book he read for school or maybe it was from an episode of Grey's Anatomy that he watched with Katelyn. Regardless in the past week, he saw the truth in the statement. Death was indeed hardest on the living.
He knew that one day his parents would die, it was just the reality of life. He'd always thought that they'd die from old age, once Chandler had married and had kids and was older himself. Turns out he was wrong. Exactly a week ago, his father, William Riggs had been killed because some Asshole decided it would smart to get behind the wheel after chugging a keg of beer.
His dad was gone and for the last week, he had been is a sort of haze, along with his mother and brother, Chandler had spent the last week at home, mourning and helping his mother plan the funeral. Throughout the grueling and depressing process, Chandler came to a realization, No nineteen year old should ever have to plan the funeral of his father or for anyone that matter. It had been one of the hardest thing Chandler had ever done.
Over the past few days, Chandler had become much more grateful for his family and for his girlfriend Katelyn.
Katelyn had pretty much been living at their house for the past week and her constant presence around the house helped Chandler to keep his mind off his father, at least for the most part.
There were time when Chandler would find his thoughts drifting off towards memories of his father. They were all good memories and they were often triggered but something simple, like the dog barking at the mailman or the smell of burnt toast. It was the simple things that triggered memories of his father and as he stared at his textbooks for college, he thought back to a conversation he and his father had a few days before he died.
They were in the kitchen, arguing of some bad mark Chandler had gotten. Chandler was currently attending The University of Georgia to get his bachelor's degree in film studies.
"Dad I don't see what the big deal is," Chandler said as he poured himself a glass of juice.
"The big deal is that you failed an assignment," his dad said as he sipped his coffee.
"I didn't fail it," he said, "I just didn't do as well as I thought I did, but to be fair my professor is like obsessed with marking and he combs every paper for errors."
"Chandler that's his job," William said, "Look you and I both know that's you are more than capable of acing that assignment. So what happened?"
"I guess I slacked off...between Eclipse and filming and stuff," he said.
His dad nodded, "Look I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, you are nineteen after all but just remember what's important in life okay? Just don't give up when things get tough."
Chandler nodded, "Okay dad I will and dad?"
"Yeah Chandler?"
"Thanks...I'm going to go work on an assignment," Chandler said, giving his dad a smile as he headed out of the kitchen.
"That's my boy," William called after him.
He smiled at the memory, his dad had always known what to say, to motivate him and he always had the greatest advice, for almost any situation Chandler had encountered during his teenaged years. When Chandler and Grayson were younger, they used to call their dad "Father Yoda," his dad had gotten a kick out of it and one year he even dressed up as Yoda on Halloween just to make the boys laugh. Chandler had been the luckiest kid to have a father like William.
He felt a single tear run down his cheek and he wiped it away.
He had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Katelyn coming into his room and finding a place beside him. He only noticed her when she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, you ready? Everyone else is downstairs," Katelyn said, giving him a concerned yet loving look.
He turned towards her and noticed the blouse and pencil skirt she was wearing. It was black, just like the pants, shirt and jacket he was wearing. He hated the colour black, especially today.
"Yeah I guess...have you ever given a eulogy before?" he asked as he looked at her.
She shook her head and gave him a sympathetic look, "No...I haven't."
"Me either, guess there's a first time for everything," Chandler said with a slight laugh.
Katelyn held out her hand and he took it, interlacing their finger. Together they walked out of his room and down the stairs to the car outside. Today was really going to be a tough day.
////
The service was very long. Their local pastor had said some words and read from the bible and then they had prayed. So many people spoke about his father, including his mother and Mark Nacon.
Hearing all the nice words everyone had to say brought good feelings to Chandler. He had no idea how much people had respected and loved his father and he had never realized how many lives his dad had impacted.
A few years ago, William had started a fund that provided financial aid to young actors and actresses. Today Chandler had learned just how many young actors and actresses had benefited from the fund.
Chandler and Katelyn had put together a tribute for his dad. Chandler had created a slideshow showing his father's life from his childhood up until the weeks before he died and while the slideshow played, Katelyn sang 'I Was Here,' by Beyoncé. They had picked the song because Chandler felt it really described the life that his father lived. He had lived and loved and made a difference in this world.
By the time the slideshow ended, Chandler was trying hard not to cry. He looked at the first pew and noticed that both Grayson and their mother were crying.
Once he got his composure together, Chandler made his way over to the podium, on the way he felt Katelyn's hand brush against his and she gave him a supportive look.
When he got to the stand, he looked at all the people sitting in the pews, took a deep breath and began to speak.
"I guess I should start by thanking you all for coming today, I know my dad would have been honoured to know that so many people cared about him. My dad was...well he was my dad, but he was more than that...he was my best friend, he-he was the person that I turned to when I needed advice or when I needed guidance. Since I was a baby my dad looked out for me and worked so hard that I could grow up pursuing the things I wanted to, he was one of the biggest supporters of my career and he would always tell me how proud he was of me, because I pursued my dreams and didn't let things get in my way," Chandler paused and wiped away a few tears.
"Um my dad...he taught me right from wrong, him and my mom, they raised me to be a good person and I never lost that...even after I started acting. My dad gave the greatest advice and I could always come to him with any question or any problem without the fear of judgement. I remember my brother and I used to call him "Father Yoda" because he used to give the greatest advice and this one year he dressed up as Yoda for Halloween," he hears some laughter from the seats.
"That's the type of father he was, the one who did whatever he needed to do to make his family happy. I said that he always gave great advice and there are two times he gave me advice that I remembered fondly. The first was something he said to me and that was 'not to give up even when things get tough,' right now given everything...that advice... its helped keep me going, helped me keep my eye on the future, because I want to leave this world a little better just because I was here...just like my dad did," He can see his mother giving her a teary smile.
"The other piece of advice that my father gave me was how to know when you're in love with someone. I asked him that question almost two years ago and he helped me to figure out whether or not I was in love with my Girlfriend. I'm grateful for the advice he gave me because two years later I'm still with her and over the past week she's been my rock. Without my dad I don't know if I would have ever realized how much I love her, so I'm grateful for that. I know that he's watching over me and everyone else he cared about. I love you dad and this isn't a goodbye it's a see you later," Chandler said, wiping his eyes and stepping down.
////
The celebration of life was more pleasant than the funeral, Katelyn had met a lot of members of Chandler's family that she hadn't met or even heard of before, while she had enjoyed meeting them, she would have given anything for it to be under different circumstances that the celebration of life for Chandler's father.
Speaking of Chandler, she hadn't seen him since they got back to the house. She remembered seeing him going upstairs but after that she hadn't seen him. She needed to check on him and get him to eat something.
She walked into the kitchen and put together a plate of a couple sandwiches, some fruit, chips and two bottles of orange juice. Once she was done, she went upstairs to his room.
She found him sitting on the bed, holding a picture of his family taken last year. When he notices her, he wipes his eyes and smiled at her, "Hey."
"Hey Chan, you doing okay?" she asked as she sat down beside him, offering him a sandwich, which he graciously accepted.
"Yeah...I'm hanging in there...I've been thinking about what I want to do to honour my dad's legacy and I think that I have a good idea," he said.
"What is it?" she asked in between eating a few grapes.
"I was thinking about the fund that my dad started and well I was thinking that maybe a few years from now...you and I could start our own fund and maybe coach and mentor young actors and actresses and musicians."
Katelyn smiled at him and took his hand in hers, "That sounds amazing Chandler, in a few years I think you and I could make that happen," her voice was sweet and sincere and they smiled softly at each other.
They ate in silence for the next few minutes and once they are finished, Chandler stood up and pulled her up with him. "I should probably get down stairs and actually talk to people," he said with a laugh. He pulled Katelyn close to him and pecked her on the lips, "Thank you for everything," he said sincerely.
She smiled and gave him a quick kiss in return.
As they walked out of the room, Chandler looked back at the photo and smiled, "See you later dad," He whispered as he followed Katelyn out of the room.