"It's Micheal Elliott," she said not bothering to cover the receiver as she announced my call to her husband.
"Oh!," I heard Elmo exclaim. "Yes, I want to talk to him," and I heard the shoving of a chair across a floor as the 92 year old man made his way to the phone.
"Micheal," his vibrant voice exploded into my ear.
"Hey Elmo," I said smiling.
He is a special man, the second representative of a third generation family funeral business.
Back in the days when AIDS was exploding and I was working to house people everyone else was shunning, I learned to love Elmo. Fathers would shun their sons and leave them to die alone because they were ashamed of boys growing up to be themselves and then literally dying because of it! At the time, funeral homes wouldn't take their bodies because they were afraid they would catch AIDS.
I was sitting with the body of such a boy one day and didn't know what to do. His family didn't want him. So I called Elmo.
"Of course," he said. "I'll have someone right over."
And he did.
For the next several years ... when there was no one else to call, I'd call Elmo. He always had the same response ... "Of course."
"How are you Micheal?" he asked as I stood barefoot on the beloved back deck. "I told your Mother that I need to talk to you. I just want to see how you're doing."
It's been three years since I've seen him. My eyes grew moist as memories flooded through my heart.
I don't know how many people Elmo buried for me but it was a lot. He never charged anything. He only said, "Of course."
I told him I was good. I told him about Sarah. He asked about the kids. He told me about a his recent hospital stay. He told me he was good for someone so old.
His voice was that of a young man. Love and warmth poured into my ear as he spoke. We didn't speak of the funerals but there is a sense ... a shared bond that no one else will ever understand ... of the things that we did together.
Today is a special day of joy. Dani Sadowski is getting married and I'm performing the ceremony. Dani has been part of my life since she was a baby. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without her and her brother Ryan and my kids. We all grew up together.
Later today, she and Peter will be toasted and I really look forward to that.
But I'll take a moment to raise my glass to Elmo Weeks ... an unassuming hero who was always there when nobody else wanted to be ... when fathers abandoned their sons ... and death was a way of life.
I am sure I will cry.
Then I will grab Sarah's hand and we will dance.
