9.92 Pain

Although Skyla made a conscious decision to let the Grim Reaper take her father, it didn’t make losing him any easier. She didn’t do very well with his death. She felt like she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. Even though she hated seeing him sick, if he did have some sort of major illness, at least he may have died a slow death and she could have spent focused time with him and had a proper goodbye. She was glad that he didn’t die from illness. But, the randomness of dying from old age always seemed to catch everyone with their pants down.

Jonathan was glad he previously made arrangements with Tony to run things at the restaurant. When it happened, he didn’t have to think about anything except taking care of Skyla.

It was a long, hard, painful process for both of them.

Not that Jonathan would wish for anyone to lose their parents, but in a way, he felt honored to be able to care for Skyla in her time of need just as she cared for him before they were married. Because he had already gone through it, he knew how to treat her and what to expect. He didn’t try to force her to feel better or speed up the grieving process. He simply let her grieve in whatever way she needed to, and when she really needed him, he was right there.

However, eventually things got better. She began to get back to herself and took an interest in painting again although she painted many sad pictures. In time, she was normal enough to begin thinking about her life and what she wanted it to look like. She was ready to move forward. When Jonathan realized this, he took measures to ensure that they could focus on each other and their goals in the coming weeks.

He called up his best friend and made the most significant proposition yet. He wanted to give him Power of Attorney over the estate so he could take care of things at home and at the restaurant while they were away. He wasn’t sure how long they’d be gone, but he anticipated it would be a very long time. Tony happily accepted Jonathan’s offer and wished them well on their road back to happiness.