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How many times since Elise's death had her husband, Mitch, said numbly, Oh Christ, I can't believe she's gone, I don't know what to do. And Joan replied helplessly, squeezing his hand, I know! I know.
Of course, there wouldn't be one-a wake. The deceased hadn't been Catholic. Hadn't been brought up in any church, though she'd been respectful (more or less, at least publicly) of religion. At the time of death, at the time of the terrible starkness and finality of death, when you are staring into an abyss, and no bottom to the abyss, religion is a consolation, for some. If you can believe, if you can force yourself. Yes, but we don't believe, and we can't force ourselves.
Joan would date the hour, the very minute of Elise's death at the time she,-Joan, received the news. At 8:40 a.m. in Baltimore, which was 7:40 a.m. in Milwaukee; in fact, Elise had died at 6:55 a.m. in Milwaukee General Hospital. But Joan had picked up the telephone in Baltimore, unguarded and innocent, and immediately she'd recognized the voice of Elise's husband, though some terrible change had occurred, Mitch's voice was quavering, broken. Joan thought, Elise is dead. Elise is dead! For never in the twelve years of their acquaintance had Mitch telephoned Joan, his wife's oldest friend.
So Joan heard the news from Mitch. "You're the first to know, except for Elise's older sister, who's going to break the news to her mother." Elise's mother had been ill for some time, in a nursing home; Joan hadn't seen her in years. "Elise wanted to call you herself. Sunday morning, she was going to try. But she couldn't, she was too weak. Joan, are you there?" Mitch asked anxiously, and Joan said, "Yes, of course, of course I'm here," thinking numbly, Where else! Where else would I be! and Mitch continued, "So she told me to tell you, Joan, she was thinking of you, and she's going to miss you, and-" There was a pause, some confusion at the other end of the line, possibly someone was speaking to Mitch, or Mitch had dropped the receiver, and Joan said, "Mitch? Mitch? Is something wrong?" and after a moment Mitch's voice returned, overly loud in...