Page 37 of First Comes Marriage
As we finally drift off to sleep some time before daybreak, I murmur, “I love you, Dex.”
“I love you too, Jolie. Now sleep, sweetheart.”
“Aye, aye, captain!”
Epilogue
Jolie, Ten Years Later
As the man steps up to the podium, the crowd settles. I look around, amazed that ten years has practically flown by. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, for those who don’t know me, I’m Thurman Foster, the superintendent for Cooper County Schools, and I’m happy to be here today to help celebrate the class of 2035. Before I introduce this year’s class valedictorian, I’d like to share just a tiny bit about her accomplishments if I may. Ten years ago, her family suffered the kind of loss that has caused many children to go down a far different path, angry at the hand they’ve been dealt. Instead, this young lady’s older brother stepped up, along with her grandmothers, and gave her, along with her sister and brother, the stability they needed.”
Polite applause reverberates through the football stadium as I lean over and whisper to Dex, “You did that for them, honey.”
He murmurs back, “You did as well, Jolie. You were willing to put your life on hold to keep my two sisters and my brother outof the foster care system.” I shrug then tune back in to what Mr. Foster is saying about ‘our’ girl.
“When another tragedy struck her older brother, injuring him in the oil explosion back in 2025, her brother and sister-in-law’s friends stepped in at home to help with the kids while this young lady’s sister-in-law was by her brother’s side until he was medically stable enough to come home to complete his rehabilitation. Students over these past eight years know them as Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, but your class valedictorian simply calls them Dex and Jolie, at least when she’s not in school. Let’s put our hands together for this year’s valedictorian, Arya Maria Josephine Armstrong!”
This time, I can hear whistles and cheers as Arya carefully walks across the stage to the podium, her pristine gown heavily decorated with several stoles as well as cords depicting the many awards she’s been honored with, and I laugh with a bit of a tremble as Dex’s piercing whistle can be heard by her if her slight smirk in our direction is any indicator.
“So fucking proud of her,” he murmurs so no kids around us hear their beloved welding teacher cursing.
“Same, honey, same. Now shush, I want to hear the final version of her speech.”
For weeks now, she’s been sharing bits and pieces of it, but never the full thing. I’m not concerned; whatever she shares is from her perspective of life and she’s got a good head on her shoulders as far as I’m concerned. All three of them do, actually.
“Good afternoon, distinguished guests, Superintendent Foster, teachers, faculty, parents, friends, and last but certainly not least, my fellow graduates in the class of 2035. For thosewho don’t know who I am, my name is Arya Maria Josephine Armstrong, and I’m the youngest of four kids. Before I give my speech, which might go a little longer than normal, but I ask you to please bear with me, because there’s a method to my craziness, I promise. Right now, I wish to honor two of our classmates who sadly aren’t here to celebrate this amazing milestone with all of us.”
My eyes tear up when I see her swallow down the sadness that’s not only wrapped around her, but her classmates too.
“The first is Marisol Contreras. As most of our class knows, Marisol has battled leukemia for many years and went into remission when we were sophomores. Sadly, it came back last year with a vengeance, and two days after she had her senior pictures made, she passed away in her sleep. Marisol was a light in our community. She always had a smile on her face, no matter how sick and weak her treatments made her, and her greatest wish was to work with animals. When she was able to, she volunteered for a local rescue, and often fostered kittens until they were old enough to be adopted. As a class, we held multiple fundraisers throughout this year in order to honor her memory and I’m pleased to announce that Mr. and Mrs. Contreras are here today to accept a check in the amount of ten thousand dollars, raised by Marisol’s classmates, to benefit the rescue she loved so much. We have also planted a tree in her memory, and the welding class that is graduating today made a beautiful bench that is dedicated to Marisol as well. Her beautiful senior portrait, along with her cap and gown are in the chair where she would be sitting with us today if she had been able to celebrate this milestone with us, and while I know she’s not physically here, I feel her spirit all around us.”
I’m wiping my eyes at this point because Arya has always had a way with words, which is why she held so many positions in various clubs. She has a genuine heart for others, and she and Marisol bonded over their love of animals, so she spent a lot of time at our house when she was well enough to do so.
“The second student, Carter Mullins, passed away this past weekend after a tragic car accident. Carter was a star athlete and had a full-ride scholarship to the University of Georgia for football. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong have already volunteered to create a bench in his memory during the first quarter of next year, since his younger brother will be part of the welding program. Once it’s done, the principal has said we’ll have a ceremony to honor Carter. The class of 2036 has pledged to hold several fundraisers in order to donate to a charity that Carter volunteered with, Habitat for Humanity. Carter’s generous nature didn’t end with his sudden passing, he had checked the organ donor box on his license and as a result, he has helped countless lives.”
I’m now openly sobbing, because Carter was a frequent visitor at our house as well, since he was one of Thad’s friends. I’ve been keeping an eye on our boy because he took the news hard, which is understandable considering he was supposed to go out with Carter and the group he was with but got sick about thirty minutes before and elected to stay home in case he was contagious. It’s taken Dex days to get him to understand that when it’s our time, there’s nothing that’s going to stop death from happening.
Arya continues, saying, “The tragic event that Mr. Foster alluded to happened when I was eight years old. Both of my parents were killed and at the time, my oldest brother was out on a job as an oil rig welder. He’s a lot older than us,” she pauses and grinswhile chuckles ring the stadium, “but he immediately flew home to help me, my sister, and other brother handle all the things that entailed, and then, he married Miss Jolie so that the three of us wouldn’t go into foster care. Our abuela and nonna lived with us, but the state thought they were too old to handle three kids under the age of twelve on their own, so my brother and Miss Jolie sacrificed their own lives to keep us together under one roof as a family.”
She glances around, and when her eyes spot us, she lifts up her closed fist and taps it to her chest. We mimic the movement to let her know that we feel her deep in our hearts the way she does us in her own.
“That’s when the three of us made our own vow, which was that their sacrifices wouldn’t be in vain. Both Thad and Anniston, my brother and sister, were valedictorians for their classes, and like me, they received multiple scholarships to go toward future education. We wanted Dex and Jolie to know that we appreciated everything they did for each one of us, from the mundane like taking us shopping every time we hit a growth spurt, to the spectacular, which was the vacation the whole family took to Alaska several years ago. They taught the three of us how to work hard while also playing hard and allowed us to find our own footing when it came to sports or other activities. If we wanted to try, the commitment we had to follow through with was at least one season. If we struggled in a subject, they found a tutor to help us if they weren’t able to do so, so we got it. We were blessed to live in a multi-generational, multi-lingual home and as many of my friends can likely attest, there’s never a dull moment.”
I hear someone yell, “Not when Abuela and Nonna get going!” and the crowd roars with laughter since Maria and Josephinemay be approaching their eighties, but they’re still just as stubborn and opinionated as they were all those years ago when I first came to live with Dex.
Arya giggles then briefly glances at her notes before she looks out over the crowd once again. “I said all of that about my family to say this to my fellow graduates. Where there’s a will, you’ll make a way. If it’s important to you, you’ll sacrifice sleep, seeing your friends, and the latest fad to make sure you achieve your goals. There’snothingyou’re incapable of doing if you put your mind to it, and I feel as though I’m living proof. While I’m happy about how things have turned out in my own family, I feel as though the foster care system needs some major reforms because so many children fall through the cracks, or they’re in a similar situation that we were in ten years ago. I plan to follow that dream and see what I can do to ensure families are able to stay together, even if the adults aren’t ‘conventional’ and I know that if I can do it, y’all can as well. Thanks for taking the time to come out and see your graduate today. Classmates, it’s time to line up!”
She steps down to thunderous applause while I cry, Dex cheers, Anni jumps up and down, and Thad hollers and whistles. As I watch the students line up, my tears continue to flow when I see each of them lay a lily on each of the deceased students’ chairs.
I hear Mrs. Estes, the principal, say through the loudspeaker, “We ask that you keep your celebration to a minimum so that everyone is able to hear their graduate’s name.”
While we wait to hear Arya’s name, Dex leans over and asks, “So, how about eighteen years this time since ten worked out so well?”
I glance down at the three little ones sitting in front of me, their aunt and uncle bookends on either side of them, with Abuela and Nonna in wheelchairs in front of them since they’re getting a bit frailer these days. Then, I peer at the tiny face that’s sleeping in the baby sling wrapped around my chest. Leaning into my husband’s side I murmur, “We should probably make it an even twenty based on what I found out this morning.”
His eyes grow wide, and he raises his brow. “You’re kidding, right? I mean, I got snipped, Jolie, after you said four was plenty.”
“Did you ever go for your follow-up?” I sweetly query.
