1970s: A Heartbreaking Loss
In San Sequoia, Michael and Robin are also following the election, and unlike Cathy they are well versed in the issues at hand. For these two, Carters victory speech means hope, as they both voted for him, hoping that honesty, integrity and justice would be the future for the country.
The next night, as so often at weekends, the two goes to the movies, watching Rocky and revelling in the story of a poor man fighting his way to the top. They are hardly the only ones, the line to the movie starts outside the cinema.
But as they return home that night, a phone call disrupts the peace. Michael's grandfather has passed away.
Back in her home in Oasis Springs, Josephine is heartbroken by the loss of her husband. Their lives have not always been easy, and there have been times their marriage has been hard, like when she lost their first child, or when he sold her violin behind her back to pay the bills and still managed to lose their house. But in spite hard ships, they made it through, and raised a beautiful family, and now she's all alone.
Returning home with his ashes, she can barely make it through the door, and once inside she feels a sudden tightening around her chest, as if her heart is about to explode. The strain on her heart is too big, but she's not sad when she feels the life slip away from her. Perhaps this was the meant to be. Forever in life, and forever in the life after? Josephine takes her last breaths on the floor of their house, next to her husbands urn.
For Thomas, it's a hard blow to lose both his parents at once. While the kids are still sleeping, he has gotten dressed so that he can go over and check on the house and pick up his parent's remains. As the eldest it's his responsibility, and he wants to get it right. Betty tries her best to comfort him, and offers to come along.
"No, you stay here, with the kids. I won't be long," Thomas says.
But before he can even leave, something interrupts the peace. A burglar is arriving.
But this time, the burglar doesn't stand a chance. Not only is Thomas awake and up, the alarmsystem he's installed is working perfectly and before long the burglar is trying to fight their way out of the policeman's grip.
Of course, this means that the entire family is up by the time Thomas can finally go and fix his parent's house. When he gets there it's almost morning. Now all that remains is planning a funeral. But that is something he will discuss with his siblings in the morning, after he's had a couple of hours of sleep at least.
Back in Britechester, Cathy is taking the news of the people she's known as her grandparents her whole life hard. While Beth and Ken are at Foxbury, and therefore close enough to attend their funeral, she is across the country and has no means to just go home for a few days. It's also the start of term and she has to focus on her studies. How to do that with her heart breaking with grief she's not sure. She's never felt more alone in her life!
She tries to keep up appearances with her roommates, not wanting to show her pain to them just yet. After all, she doesn't know them.
But when no one is around it's hard to keep her mood up. Her mind is in Oasis Springs, and she longs for the home she left.
Over there, Thomas has called on his sisters and brother to discuss funeral arrangements and read the will. Conversations that would normally be centered around worldly things, such as the constantly rising gas prises, the energy crises of the severity of the drought plaguing Californa are replaced with conversations about practical things. Who arranges what? When can the house be sold? What about taxes? So many practical issues that it's hard to focus on the one thing that matters: the feeling of immense loss and grief.
In the end things are settled for the day. The funeral will be held on Friday, after the fourth of July parades. It's the Bicentennial celebration this year, better and bigger than ever before the posters say. Hotels are fully booked. The parks have events all day, and the fireworks is rumoured to be fantastic. The sort of thing that their parents would love. National pride. Community spirit. But now they won't be there for it.
The big discussion point is where to hold the funeral. Some argue that they should be brought back to Willow Creek, since their mother was so eager to bury Alice there.
"But who would take care of their tombs?" Thomas protests.
"Didn't dad have a sister who lives there?" Hazel remembers. "I seem to remember her coming to visit when we still lived there."
"And we have other relatives there."
"How many of them do we know?"
"I know Gordon, he and his wife and their three kids live there, but I still want mum and dad closer than across the country. It feels weird going all that way just to bury them."
In the end they settle on a burial in Chestnut creek, close to Alice's grave. Their parents will be buried with their family, which was what they found important, and their children will be there to take care of their graves.
The next day Thomas drives up to Chestnut Ridge to see Anna. He cannot imagine what she's feeling at the moment, the last one of six siblings. How many losses had she not endured? Her fiancé, her brother, her parents, then one by one all of her siblings and in between them her husband. When he arrives he finds her outside, dressed in her funeral dress.
Thomas hopes to persuade her to move in with them when Susan moves out for good this time.
"Why not? We have a spare room."
But Anna won't hear of it. There is no need to be a burden, and besides, there is no rivalling the open air and views from her little cottage.
"But you won't be able to take care of yourself forever."
"I am now. Besides, I have a girl coming to clean and do laundry once a week, and she helps me with things like shopping. As long as I can still take walks around the area, or drive the truck to town, I'll do fine. Besides, they're all here, aren't they. Alice, Johnny, now Josephine. No, I'm not leaving.
Thomas has to return with unfinished business.
Meanwhile Ken and Beth is trying to keep up their studies. It's not easy when all you want to do is cry into your pillow, but their professors have no time for sympathy. Lectures need to be attended, homework finished and term papers handed in.
Ken at least find the time to call his mom for a bit.
Elisabeth try to help, but with her grouch trait, she has a hard time understanding feelings and when Ken can't accept her outstretched hand she gets annoyed. As she insist things go from bad to worse.
By the end of it, they're officially still dating, still have passion for each other. They just don't like each other very much. Or at all.
The next night, as so often at weekends, the two goes to the movies, watching Rocky and revelling in the story of a poor man fighting his way to the top. They are hardly the only ones, the line to the movie starts outside the cinema.
But as they return home that night, a phone call disrupts the peace. Michael's grandfather has passed away.
Back in her home in Oasis Springs, Josephine is heartbroken by the loss of her husband. Their lives have not always been easy, and there have been times their marriage has been hard, like when she lost their first child, or when he sold her violin behind her back to pay the bills and still managed to lose their house. But in spite hard ships, they made it through, and raised a beautiful family, and now she's all alone.
Returning home with his ashes, she can barely make it through the door, and once inside she feels a sudden tightening around her chest, as if her heart is about to explode. The strain on her heart is too big, but she's not sad when she feels the life slip away from her. Perhaps this was the meant to be. Forever in life, and forever in the life after? Josephine takes her last breaths on the floor of their house, next to her husbands urn.
For Thomas, it's a hard blow to lose both his parents at once. While the kids are still sleeping, he has gotten dressed so that he can go over and check on the house and pick up his parent's remains. As the eldest it's his responsibility, and he wants to get it right. Betty tries her best to comfort him, and offers to come along.
"No, you stay here, with the kids. I won't be long," Thomas says.
But before he can even leave, something interrupts the peace. A burglar is arriving.
But this time, the burglar doesn't stand a chance. Not only is Thomas awake and up, the alarmsystem he's installed is working perfectly and before long the burglar is trying to fight their way out of the policeman's grip.
Of course, this means that the entire family is up by the time Thomas can finally go and fix his parent's house. When he gets there it's almost morning. Now all that remains is planning a funeral. But that is something he will discuss with his siblings in the morning, after he's had a couple of hours of sleep at least.
Back in Britechester, Cathy is taking the news of the people she's known as her grandparents her whole life hard. While Beth and Ken are at Foxbury, and therefore close enough to attend their funeral, she is across the country and has no means to just go home for a few days. It's also the start of term and she has to focus on her studies. How to do that with her heart breaking with grief she's not sure. She's never felt more alone in her life!
She tries to keep up appearances with her roommates, not wanting to show her pain to them just yet. After all, she doesn't know them.
But when no one is around it's hard to keep her mood up. Her mind is in Oasis Springs, and she longs for the home she left.
Over there, Thomas has called on his sisters and brother to discuss funeral arrangements and read the will. Conversations that would normally be centered around worldly things, such as the constantly rising gas prises, the energy crises of the severity of the drought plaguing Californa are replaced with conversations about practical things. Who arranges what? When can the house be sold? What about taxes? So many practical issues that it's hard to focus on the one thing that matters: the feeling of immense loss and grief.
In the end things are settled for the day. The funeral will be held on Friday, after the fourth of July parades. It's the Bicentennial celebration this year, better and bigger than ever before the posters say. Hotels are fully booked. The parks have events all day, and the fireworks is rumoured to be fantastic. The sort of thing that their parents would love. National pride. Community spirit. But now they won't be there for it.
The big discussion point is where to hold the funeral. Some argue that they should be brought back to Willow Creek, since their mother was so eager to bury Alice there.
"But who would take care of their tombs?" Thomas protests.
"Didn't dad have a sister who lives there?" Hazel remembers. "I seem to remember her coming to visit when we still lived there."
"And we have other relatives there."
"How many of them do we know?"
"I know Gordon, he and his wife and their three kids live there, but I still want mum and dad closer than across the country. It feels weird going all that way just to bury them."
In the end they settle on a burial in Chestnut creek, close to Alice's grave. Their parents will be buried with their family, which was what they found important, and their children will be there to take care of their graves.
The next day Thomas drives up to Chestnut Ridge to see Anna. He cannot imagine what she's feeling at the moment, the last one of six siblings. How many losses had she not endured? Her fiancé, her brother, her parents, then one by one all of her siblings and in between them her husband. When he arrives he finds her outside, dressed in her funeral dress.
Thomas hopes to persuade her to move in with them when Susan moves out for good this time.
"Why not? We have a spare room."
But Anna won't hear of it. There is no need to be a burden, and besides, there is no rivalling the open air and views from her little cottage.
"But you won't be able to take care of yourself forever."
"I am now. Besides, I have a girl coming to clean and do laundry once a week, and she helps me with things like shopping. As long as I can still take walks around the area, or drive the truck to town, I'll do fine. Besides, they're all here, aren't they. Alice, Johnny, now Josephine. No, I'm not leaving.
Thomas has to return with unfinished business.
Meanwhile Ken and Beth is trying to keep up their studies. It's not easy when all you want to do is cry into your pillow, but their professors have no time for sympathy. Lectures need to be attended, homework finished and term papers handed in.
Ken at least find the time to call his mom for a bit.
Elisabeth try to help, but with her grouch trait, she has a hard time understanding feelings and when Ken can't accept her outstretched hand she gets annoyed. As she insist things go from bad to worse.
By the end of it, they're officially still dating, still have passion for each other. They just don't like each other very much. Or at all.
On Thursday it's Independence day, and although the entire family is grieving, the rest of the country is celebrating. Claudia persuades Arthur to at least bring Cindy to the park.
"She could use some laughter to forget the world for a few hours," she says, and Arthur does see her point. Thomas brings his family too, because no matter how they feel, this is too big to miss. "You're going to feel as if you missed out," he tells Susan and Steven.
"I'd rather go to the movies," Steven argues. "Everyone else has already seen Star Wars*. It's much more important than some fireworks."
"Everyone? It came out yesterday!" his mother points out.
"Exactly!" Steven answers.
Still, they do end up having a fairly good day at the park, and the fireworks are fairly spectacular.
"She could use some laughter to forget the world for a few hours," she says, and Arthur does see her point. Thomas brings his family too, because no matter how they feel, this is too big to miss. "You're going to feel as if you missed out," he tells Susan and Steven.
"I'd rather go to the movies," Steven argues. "Everyone else has already seen Star Wars*. It's much more important than some fireworks."
"Everyone? It came out yesterday!" his mother points out.
"Exactly!" Steven answers.
Still, they do end up having a fairly good day at the park, and the fireworks are fairly spectacular.
"Grandma and grandpa would have loved it," Susan says.
As Friday rolls around, it's finally time for the funeral. The family gathers in the church in Chestnut Ridge, coming from all over California. Michael and Robin and Barbara with Abbie from San Sequoia, Carl from Del Sol Valley, Ken and Beth from Foxbury and the rest from Oasis Springs. It's a familiar affair, with eulogies and crying, but with two caskets instead of one.
As their eldest, Thomas hold their eulogy, talking about their lives, their struggles and their successes. How family was what mattered, and nothing else really mattered.
As he speaks, he feels how true those words are, and wonders what he's been doing worrying about making something of himself. Something new, something else. He has all he needs. He has his children, his wife, his siblings. What else could possibly matter?
After the eulogy they follow the caskets as they are carried to the cemetery, and Josephine and Nash are put to their final rest side by side. They light a candle for each of them, and Thomas says a few final words.
After, they gather at Arthur's, as his is the biggest house. They talk memories, and miss the ones who are no longer with them, but most of all they just value the fact that they can be together.
Anna hasn't spoken to Nash's sister Morgan Goth since she left Willow Creek, but she, Hazel and Thomas do their best to make her feel welcome anyway. Hazel and Thomas think that they might even remember her from when they were kids. She updates them on what she knows about the Willow Creek side of the family, even if there seems to be a lot of them that she doesn't know anything about.
Beth mostly talks to her mother. "I just wish Cathy was here," she says, because a family gathering without her feels utterly wrong.
"I know, sweetie," her mom answers. "I miss your sister too, and I know she misses us. But college will go by faster than you think. We'll all be together soon enough."
She doesn't add how short life is, or that life can slip away unless you careful. She's been thinking about it a lot these past few days, and it feels like it's all going by too fast. Her big girls have already left the house, soon it's Cindy's turn and she will be all alone in this big house during Arthur's long hours. What is she going to do with all that time?
As Friday rolls around, it's finally time for the funeral. The family gathers in the church in Chestnut Ridge, coming from all over California. Michael and Robin and Barbara with Abbie from San Sequoia, Carl from Del Sol Valley, Ken and Beth from Foxbury and the rest from Oasis Springs. It's a familiar affair, with eulogies and crying, but with two caskets instead of one.
As their eldest, Thomas hold their eulogy, talking about their lives, their struggles and their successes. How family was what mattered, and nothing else really mattered.
As he speaks, he feels how true those words are, and wonders what he's been doing worrying about making something of himself. Something new, something else. He has all he needs. He has his children, his wife, his siblings. What else could possibly matter?
After the eulogy they follow the caskets as they are carried to the cemetery, and Josephine and Nash are put to their final rest side by side. They light a candle for each of them, and Thomas says a few final words.
After, they gather at Arthur's, as his is the biggest house. They talk memories, and miss the ones who are no longer with them, but most of all they just value the fact that they can be together.
Anna hasn't spoken to Nash's sister Morgan Goth since she left Willow Creek, but she, Hazel and Thomas do their best to make her feel welcome anyway. Hazel and Thomas think that they might even remember her from when they were kids. She updates them on what she knows about the Willow Creek side of the family, even if there seems to be a lot of them that she doesn't know anything about.
Beth mostly talks to her mother. "I just wish Cathy was here," she says, because a family gathering without her feels utterly wrong.
"I know, sweetie," her mom answers. "I miss your sister too, and I know she misses us. But college will go by faster than you think. We'll all be together soon enough."
She doesn't add how short life is, or that life can slip away unless you careful. She's been thinking about it a lot these past few days, and it feels like it's all going by too fast. Her big girls have already left the house, soon it's Cindy's turn and she will be all alone in this big house during Arthur's long hours. What is she going to do with all that time?
*NOTE: In real life the bicentennial 4th of July celebration was, obviously, held in 1976. Since I only have one independence day celebration per sim year (1 sim year = 5 real ones) that corresponded more with 1977 than 1976, which is how Star Wars, released in the US in May 1977 could suddenly be released ahead of the bicentennial celebrations.
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