There wasn’t many people in the church. Only about 30 or 40 people at most. It was very different from her father’s funeral ten years prior. There was a coffin up on the stage that was closed. Pictures were scattered on poster boards around the church. There was one big photo of girl in her late twenties at the front of the church in front of the coffin and next to a podium. The picture of the girl was labeled, “Charlotte Mason, March 16 1997- June 4 2024”. People were starting to sit down in the pews and wait for the funeral to start. A man stood up and walked over to the podium.

“Uh hello everyone.” He spoke into the speaker.
“My name is Tom Harland. I was a very close friend to Charlotte. Well actually, more than close friends. We were practically lovers. We’d known each other since high school. We sat next to each other in English. We didn’t talk much, but I knew I said more to her than anyone else in that school. We met again at college a few years later, and… and she seemed so different. So much… so much happier. This sounds so cheesy, but her smile actually did light up a room when she walked in. Her smile always reached her eyes and she had this way with people… she made everyone comfortable and happy. It was such a different contrast to who she was in high school. We talked to each other like we’d known each other our entire lives. That was five years ago. I’ve known she was sick ever since the beginning. I went to the doctor with her. I knew she was strong… I thought she would conquer this. But everyone knows how brain cancer is…”
The tears were welling up in his eyes. His lips were quivering and his eyes darted away from the audience. His head slowly turned to the picture of Charlotte and he sighed. “If I had a chance to say one more thing to her before she… took her life… I would tell her I loved her. Ever since high school. I’m an idiot for k-keeping it a secret.”

He walked of the stage barely containing his sobs. Another woman walked to the podium and introduced her as one of Charlotte’s friends from college. After a few more people spoke a few words, a young girl around thirteen stepped onto the stage. She was tall for her age, so she could reach the microphone just fine. You could tell she was athletic by her well defined calves and arms. She cleared her throat and started to speak.
“So many of you probably don’t know me. I don’t know if Charlotte ever talked about me at college. For all I know she totally forgot about me. But I didn’t forget her. She was my older sister.” She paused.
“For the majority of my life, I was treated like the golden child. My parents spoiled me beyond no end. When I was being treated like a princess, she was treated like a punching bag. While my father was alive, he would beat her for no reason. After he passed my mom took the responsibility of hurting her. I consider my sister the strongest and bravest person I know. She would take all this punishment she didn’t deserve and… I just sat there and watched from a distance. I wish I had done something. My sister and I were never close until she left for college and we talked in secret. My mom kicked her out and forbade me from ever speaking with her. I didn’t want that to happen though. My sister needed family in her life, and she never did anything wrong to me. I remember I used to have nightmares about my sister being beaten to death and I couldn’t stop it and save her.” She paused for a few moments, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
“She proved I was right when she was diagnosed. She never once complained about the pain and she did whatever she could to make everyone happy. I admire her for that. She didn’t want people to be negative and sad while she was being positive and optimistic… I looked up to her because of that. She was who I wanted to be. Not a lot of people knew how smart and amazing she was. She always helped with my homework when I asked. She was the best sister I could ask for… My parents were wrong. She was not a mistake. She was the sweetest and greatest person to ever come into my life and it’s sad that my parents never realized that. Charlotte, if you can hear me, I want you to know that I’m so thankful that I had a sister like you.”
Her voice broke at the end and she slowly started to walk off the stage. On her way she stopped at the photo of Charlotte. She noticed the necklace her sister was wearing. Aspen smiled through her tears and put her left hand on the snowflake necklace she gave Charlotte ten years before.