Gretchen is sitting at her dining room table when Anthony walks in and sits down.
Anthony: How you feeling this morning?
Gretchen: My mother is dead, Anthony. So, I’m not great.
Anthony: I get it. I’m surprised to say it, but I miss her, too.
Gretchen: It’s just so strange in this house without her. She was always here, with a smart remark and a plate of food for breakfast.
Anthony: You know, it only stuck me just now that this is the first day of a lifetime of waking up knowing she’s not here anymore. Yesterday, it was so shocking. Today, it’s already expected to be accepted as reality. It’s odd how quickly everything can change permanently.
Gretchen: Anthony, it’s too early for philosophical remarks, especially about the death of my mother. I have a long day today.
Anthony: Are you going to work?
Gretchen: My god, no. Pratt is still holding down the fort with Carol and the girls. I’m going to the funeral home with Eddie and Mary and that’s going to be… a lot.
Anthony: Do you need me to come with for support?
Gretchen: No, it’s fine. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. And I’ve got my brother and sister to support me, that’ll be enough.
Anthony: All right.
Gretchen: Besides, if you did come, you’d probably just sabotage it in some way to get back at her.
Anthony: I think you’re confusing me for what your mother would’ve done if I died first.
Gretchen: Okay, fair point.
Anthony: Are we making Toby go to school today, or no?
Gretchen: It’s really hard to say. I think we give him some time.
Anthony: After all, you are the governor. You’re in charge of the schools, they’re not gonna give you a hard time about keeping him home.
Gretchen: That was also what Christina would say when she’d beg me to let her stay home, except she said “you’re a senator, you can defund the school.” I don’t think she totally understands how the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee works.
Anthony: Does anyone?
Gretchen: Not really. Did you know we couldn’t even vote on confirming the Secretary of Health. It’s literally in our name!
Later that day, at the funeral home…
Mary: How long are we gonna have to wait? You’d think the mother of the governor would get priority.
Gretchen: That wouldn’t be fair. We’re no more important than any other grieving family planning their loved one’s funeral.
Eddie: You can cut the crap, Gretchen. There aren’t any voters nearby.
Mary: And you’re not running for anything again anyway.
Gretchen: You never know!
Mary: Our mom just died, can’t you let us have fun?
Gretchen: You were just whining and complaining.
Mary: That’s fun for us!
Eddie: Gretchen, you look bummed. We didn’t mean to scold you, it was just a joke.
Gretchen: Guys, our mom died. That’s what I’m bummed about. What you say doesn’t really bother me, I’ve had fifty years to learn to tune it out.
Eddie: Fifty?
Gretchen: Don’t be an ass.
Eddie: Sorry.
Tim Wallingham (funeral director): Raymonds, y’all can come on in.
Mary: Y’all?
Gretchen: Shh!
Tim: First, I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.
Gretchen: Thank you, Mr. Wallingham.
Tim: You can call me Tim, that’d be fine.
Mary: Tim, our mother meant everything to us.
Tim: I understand, and we‘re going to make sure she has a lovely funeral. Now, do you want to start with the funeral plans or with writing the obituary?
Mary: I didn’t think about the obituary. I mean, the state already knows.
Gretchen: I still want to write one from the heart.
Tim: That’s completely understandable.
Eddie: My name goes first.
Gretchen: I’m the oldest!
Eddie: I know, I just wanted to hear you say it.
Gretchen: That was exploitative.
Eddie: No one likes a whiner, my dear sister.
One hour later…
Tim: All right, and how about the guests? We can handle reaching out to everyone you’d like to invite so none of you have to worry about it.
Gretchen: Well, we don’t need to be informed of it, we already know. Mary, what about Patrick?
Mary: God, no. My mother’s dead, I don’t need anything else horrible to happen to me this week.
Gretchen: Got it. Well, I definitely want to invite Carol and Massachusetts and I guess Esther. And Susana! I don’t know if she’ll come, I doubt she will, but I want her to know she’s welcome. I’d love to see her again.
Mary: This is sounding like a work function.
Gretchen: They’re my closest friends!
Eddie: That makes me incredibly sad.
Mary: I suppose you’re also inviting Samantha and Jeanne?
Gretchen: Oh god, dod we have to?
Mary: It’s probably for the best. We know they’ll want to be there, attention hogs that the are.
Gretchen: Then Carrie should be invited, I’m not going to leave out just one candidate for governor.
Mary: That means you’re inviting Hank?
Gretchen: I’m talking about the serious candidates.
Mary: Touché.
Eddie: I think we have to invite aunt Bethany.
Gretchen: The witch mom hated? Come on.
Eddie: I already feel bad enough about not personally calling her to tell her mom died.
Tim: This aunt Bethany, is she estranged?
Gretchen: You could say that.
Mary: How’d you work that one out?
Tim: We see this extensively. People tend to put the grudge aside for the sake of peace once a loved one has passed on. Sometimes, it works out great. Sometimes, it’s a disaster. Ultimately, it’s up to you to do what you’re comfortable with.
Gretchen: Mom wouldn’t want her there.
Mary: If it were up to mom, Anthony wouldn’t be there!
Tim: I didn’t hear anything about an Anthony. Did I miss someone?
Mary: The first gentleman of this state.
Tim: Oh, of course!
Gretchen: Anthony and Bethany are two entirely different things. She and Anthony joked around, but she chose to live in the same house as him. She chose not to talk with Bethany anymore for a reason.
Eddie: I just think this is the time when we have to let bygones be bygones.
Mary: I agree.
Eddie: Gretch, you look like you’re about to combust.
Gretchen: Me? Never.
Later that day…
Anthony: How’d it go, honey? Was it emotional?
Gretchen: I’m about to combust.
Anthony: What happened?
Christina: This has to be the most angry anyone’s ever been after planning a funeral.
Toby: That’s not true, some people find out their husbands had secret families when they’re planning out his funeral.
Christina: How would you know about that?
Toby: I watch TV.
Gretchen: My siblings…
Anthony: What did they do?
Gretchen: They insisted on inviting my aunt Bethany.
Anthony: Oh, I always liked her!
Christina: Didn’t she hate grandma?
Gretchen: They were very much estranged, yes.
Anthony: I understand why they’d want to invite her. They were sisters.
Gretchen: Do we not remember Palm Beach?
Anthony: We had a great vacation!
Christina: Didn’t security at that restaurant have to peel grandma off of aunt Bethany and then they kicked us all out?
Gretchen: Not all of us. I knew to slip out when that fight started brewing.
Toby: You left us there with two angry grandmothers. It was scary.
Christina: The scariest part was whether one of them you knock out the other’s false teeth, don’t act like we were ringside and the Rumble in the Jungle.
Toby: I don’t know what that is.
Anthony: Did you actually end up inviting Bethany?
Gretchen: We sure did.
Anthony: I promise not to gossip with her about your mom, if that makes you feel any better.
Gretchen: It kinda does.
The next day, Gretchen gets a call from Mary.
Gretchen: What do you want?
Mary: You sound annoyed.
Gretchen: I’m still not over you going against mom’s wishes. You know she wouldn’t want Bethany at that funeral. They didn’t even speak the last few years. She wouldn’t even say her name!
Mary: I don’t know what she’d want, because she’s not here to tell us. I did what I thought was right. And Bethany is coming, so clearly she wants some closure. We should let her have that.
Gretchen: Mom never got it!
Mary: Mom didn’t want it. But Bethany, you know, that’s her older sister. Even if the relationship was fraught at best, I get why she’d want to say goodbye. I think she deserves that.
Gretchen: Wait, back up. I don’t think I quite grasped what it is that you just told me. Bethany is coming? She’s actually showing her face?
Mary: That’s correct.
Gretchen: My god. I can’t believe what you’ve done!
Mary: Don’t try painting me as some awful person because I wanted to invite our aunt to our mom’s funeral.
Gretchen: Look, there are a lot of emotions this week. I’m sorry for lashing out at you. I’m not happy about it, but I’ll deal with it. It’s not worth fighting over at this time.
Mary: That’s a very mature response.
Gretchen: I try.
Mary: I’ll talk to you soon, I’ll give you time to sit on this.
Gretchen: Bye-bye, Mary.
Gretchen hangs up, grabs her keys, coat and a hat, and heads for the door.
Anthony: Woah, honey, where you going?
Christina: And why are you dressed like Inspector Gadget?
Gretchen: I gotta go see Carol, but I don’t need anyone seeing me on the way.
Christina: Why do you have to see Carol?
Gretchen: That old witch is coming to mom’s funeral.
Christina: Look at dad trying to contain his excitement over there.
Anthony: What an awful thing to insinuate.
Gretchen: You’re smiling.
Anthony: Don’t believe your lying eyes.
Thirty minutes later…
Sarita: Carol, I know you’re busy -
Carol: Very busy, Sarita.
Sarita: We have a guest.
Carol: If it’s the lieutenant governor, tell her her services are not needed at this juncture. I’m doing just fine as acting governor!
Esther: That’s not constit-
Carol: Zip it!
Sarita: It’s Gretchen.
Carol: Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me?
Sarita: I tried.
Carol: Not hard enough! Now, where’s my buddy Gretchen?
Gretchen: Right here!
Carol: Are you back already?
Gretchen: Nope, still taking my much-needed leave.
Carol: We got the funeral invite, by the way. We’ll all be there.
Esther: I’m so appreciative for the in-
Gretchen: We gotta talk. You’ll never believe who’s coming to the funeral!
Carol: Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu.
Gretchen: Why on earth would Alysa Liu be coming to my mother’s funeral?
Carol: She’s in town!
Gretchen: God, that’s right, we had tickets to see her skate!
Carol: I think I made an uh-oh.
Sarita: You often do.
Gretchen: My aunt Bethany is coming.
Carol: No!!
Gretchen: I know!
Carol: But she -
Gretchen: I know! My siblings demanded she be invited. They said they’d feel bad about excluding her.
Carol: You should’ve just lied and said you invited her yourself.
Gretchen: They’re a bit too intuitive for that. They know my tactics.
Carol: How do you feel about having to see her?
Gretchen: Well, it prompted me to rush down here. So what do you think?
Carol: Yeah, I assumed as much.
Gretchen: I don’t know what I’m gonna say to her. The way she treated my mom over the years just really hurt her. And I know my mom was no saint, but she was my mother.
Carol: And you only get one.
Esther: Well, these days -
Carol: You know what I meant!
Gretchen: It’s so nice to see you guys, honestly. Even you, Esther.
Esther: That’s so sweet!
Sarita: It’s only been three days, but we’ve missed you like crazy. Pratt is just… oh my god.
Carol: She’s a very nice person once you get ton know her. That’s the only nice thing I can say.
Gretchen: I’ll be back soon. I promise the much.
Three days later…
Gretchen: Wow, look at all these people!
Christine: Still no… you know who.
Gretchen: Oh my god, it’s Susana! I did’t think you were coming!
Susana: I didn’t know if I could make it, but I really wanted to be here. Gretchen, I’m so sorry for your loss. I know your mother was… well, she was a very unique being.
Gretchen: That she was. But enough about her, how have you been?
Susana: It’s been hard work in DC, but I’m working my way up. Judith and I have a great rapport, but it’s still not like what I had here. I miss you guys. Mostly you.
Gretchen: Not your mother?
Susana: Trust me, I get enough of her on the phone.
Gretchen: She does talk about you a ton still. She misses you like crazy.
Susana: I told her, if she wants to, she can always move down to DC once you guys leave office. She hasn’t been committal, but she knows it’s on the table.
Gretchen: Boy, that’d be a switch.
Susana: I know! Well, I’m gonna go find a seat by mom, I don’t want to hold up the line. Again, I’m so sorry.
Gretchen: It was so nice to see you.
Susana: You as well! I wish it were under different circumstances, though!
Jeanne: Who was that holding up the line? How rude!
Samantha: I think she meant to say “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Jeanne: Yeah, that too.
Gretchen: Thank you guys for coming.
Mary: Now, move along.
Eddie: That was abrupt.
Mary: We have to make up for all that time Susana wasted somehow!
Bethany: Wow!
Gretchen: Oh Christ, no.
Bethany: I didn’t think I’d ever lay eyes on you guys again.
Gretchen: That was the hope.
Bethany: You don’t have a hug for your dearest auntie?
Gretchen: You’re our only aunt.
Mary: Thank god, this place is packed enough.
Bethany: I can’t believe you all let me find out from Facebook that my own sister was dead!
Gretchen: In fairness, we were busy grieving with the people she actually did like.
Bethany: Why are you including yourself in that?
Gretchen: Excuse eme?
Bethany: She was harder on you than anyone! I was always telling her to go easy on you. We fought about that a lot.
Gretchen: This isn’t the time for that.
Bethany: When’s the time? You won’t talk to me any other time.
Gretchen: That’s called a consequence for your very own actions!
Bethany: It’s. Not like you’ve all been angels to me.
Gretchen: Here we go.
Eddie: I think maybe you should go take a seat.
Gretchen: Me?
Eddie: No, aunt Bethany.
Bethany: Aunt? Why call me the when you treat me like a stranger?
Christina: Take a damn seat and leave them alone. They’re in mourning! We all are!
Bethany: You think I’m not! She was my sister!
Gretchen: Not that anyone could tell from how you treated her.
Bethany: All right, I’m going to go take a seat. I’ve been harassed enough.
Gretchen: Harassed? You should feel lucky we even let you in her presence one last time! She wouldn’t have wanted it!
Bethany: Don’t you think I know that? No need to rub it in.
One hour later…
Priest: And now, Lucinda’s daughter Gretchen would like to deliver some words about her mother.
Gretchen: Thank you, father. My mother was a unique woman. She wasn’t the cuddliest, or the most outwardly happy or chipper. She had a tough exterior. She was the daughter of Italian immigrants, a first-generation American. She didn’t have it easy, she had to fight for everything she had. Still, she was such a proud Rhode Islander, and she always knew she wanted to spend her life here, and make a family here. She loved this land of opportunity, and this little, tight-knit state - even if she rarely showed it. She raised the three of us with love, sometimes tough love. In our family, she was famous for being brash and, yes, quite critical of me. But I knew that under all of that was a pure heart. She loved me, and she wanted what was best for me. Maybe she didn’t have the gentlest way of suggesting how I achieve that, but subtly was not her strong suit. She loved my father dearly. He was her whole world, and I think the only person she could ever truly be tender and sweet to without that tough outer shell. When he died, I was terrified she’d follow him quickly. I always thought she was so dependent on him. So, I invited her to live with me. I know that wasn’t her first choice, but I had to keep an eye on her. She accepted, and yes, we bickered, but we also grew closer than ever. I got to see a new side to her. I saw how strong she really was. She was the strongest woman I ever knew. She inspired me in ways I didn’t even know. I wish I had more time with her. She was so full of life, and so busy up until the very end. I never expected to lose her. I honestly thought she’d outlive me. But now, she is gone. And I do have to live without her. That won’t be easy. It’s been so strange without her, and I just wish I could go back and make sure she knew how much she meant to me. I love you, mommy. I’ll see you again down the line.
One hour later, at the funeral reception…
Bethany: Gretchen!
Gretchen: Ugh.
Bethany: No, I’m not going to yell or holler. Your eulogy was beautiful. I was crying listening to it. I’m really glad you had me here for this. It put so much into perspective. I don’t want to waste time. I already did that with Lucinda, and all I have left is regrets now. I want to make things good.
Gretchen: I think it’s too late in mom’s case.
Bethany: I mean wit h all of you guys. I’m not going back to Palm Beach right away. I’m going to stick around, and if you’ll all agree to it, I do want to meet up again and try to move forward towards healing.
Gretchen: We’ll see about that.
Bethany: That’s not a no!
Gretchen: We’ll see. I did think, as I reminisced about her, that maybe mom wouldn’t want it to be this way with all of us. That she’d want us to have a relationship. I don’t know if I can get there, but I’ll try to work through it.
Bethany: That’s all I can ask.
Gretchen: Now, if you excuse me, I need some Mac and cheese. All that crying stirred up quite the appetite.
Bethany: Mac and cheese was always your mom’s favorite.
Gretchen: It’s a lot of people’s favorite, Bethany.
Bethany: Okay, maybe we’re not quite at the point where we can share nice anecdotes together. Got it!
What did you think of this episode of Raymond Island? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to read the new episode next week!
