I remember the day Uncle Matthew died.
I did the math and I was ten years old when it happened. I remember Uncle Matthew laying on his right side facing the window. Even though he was drifting in and out of consciousness, he kept telling the doctors he was more comfortable on his side. He had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks at that point but he had been fighting cancer for over a year. When he was admitted this time, it wasn't supposed to get this bad. He went downhill quickly.
I really liked Uncle Matthew. He was around ten years younger than my dad and was around ten years older than I was. He was old enough to trust with taking me places, but young enough that we did really fun stuff. I saw him more than I really should have too. I lived in Nova Scotia with my mom and dad while Uncle Matthew lived with Grandma Linda in Ottawa. But every year my parents would choose one holiday to visit and twice a year my dad would need to come to Ottawa because the headquarters of the company he worked for were located there. When I turned five or six, Dad would take me on the trips with him and we would stay with Grandma Linda and Uncle Matthew.
We were in Ottawa for one of those trips when Uncle Matthew was admitted. When he started getting really bad, mom started making the trip from Cape Breton to be with us.
It was also that visit that dad told me I was born in that very hospital. I was surprised. I just assumed I was born in Nova Scotia. Dad told me that they had come to visit for Thanksgiving and during the visit him and mom were in a car accident. Somehow, this sent my mom into labour and I showed up way sooner than I was scheduled for. Dad told me that the doctors had given up on me. After a day in an incubator they were told I was too weak to even cry and if I didn't start breathing on my own, it wasn't going to end well. Dad told me that when he heard crying come from my room he ran so fast he wiped out before he even got through the door. As he told the story he started to cry. He looked at Uncle Matthew laying in his bed and said that when he got himself off the floor, Uncle Matthew was standing next to me crying. That's probably why Uncle Matthew took such a liking to me. He was there when I finally decided to start breathing.
I remember when Grandpa John arrived to the hospital. He brought Papa Jack and Nanny Margaret with him, which were his parents. So, my great grandparents. Right after them was Grandma Linda who was somewhere in the hospital. Everyone started hugging everyone and wrapping their arms around each other and tried to keep from crying. In retrospect, it was nice to see Grandma Linda and Grandpa John hugging because they really did not get along. I never did figure out why.
The only person not taking part in the comforting was Nanny Margaret. She was in that strange phase of dementia. I don't know how else to put it. Sometimes she was lucid, sometimes she stared off into space. When she was present, you didn't know what was going to come out of her mouth. Sometimes it made sense, sometimes it didn't. When everyone arrived, she just sat in her wheelchair and stared off into the distance. That is until she looked at the hospital bed and said "Who is that?" Papa Jack told her it was Uncle Matthew, her grandson. She wheeled herself all the way around the bed in what looked like an absolute panic. Some tried to help her, some tried to stop her and some just tried to figure out what the heck she was trying to do. When she got to the other side of the bed, she looked at Uncle Matthew and started to cry. She started stroking his cheek and said something weird. "Warlock ... what have they done to you?"
Papa Jack asked "Mother, what are you babbling on about?" I always found it interesting that Papa called Nanny "Mother". I don't know why. Anyway, Papa Jack told Nanny that now was not the time. Nanny Margaret looked at Papa Jack and said, yet again, something weird. "He must have crossed the guild." Papa Jack rolled his eyes and said "Lord, here we go with the guild." Then just like that, Nanny Margaret was staring off into nothing again. Papa Jack explained that several years back Nanny Margaret had started talking about a guild that she was part of. Some magical group that could do wizardry and other spectacular things. She insisted that because her birthday fell on the thirty-first of October, this granted her entry. She had told Papa Jack that what everyone knows as Halloween had become so askew, but there was some truth to it. After he told everyone this, he apologized for Nanny Margaret's outburst and figured that since Uncle Matthew's birthday was also October thirty-first, she just dragged him into the illusion.
The weird stuff did not end there. After a little while Nanny Margaret became present to what was around her again. She looked at Uncle Matthew and began stroking his cheek again. She wasn't crying though. Then she turned and looked right at me and smiled. It really scared me. It was weird that she was smiling while next to her dying grandson and even stranger because I didn't know which Nanny Margaret was actually smiling at me. It was just scary. I still shudder when I picture it. I sat there scared out of my mind. As bad as it may sound, the fact that Uncle Matthew passed about twenty minutes later, helped because it got my mind off the look Nanny Margaret had given me.
As much as I do remember of that day, I cannot remember how it ended up that Nanny Margaret and I were left alone in the room with Uncle Matthew. Not only were we in a room with someone who had died, but I was left alone with a woman who no one could predict minute to minute. But that's when Nanny Margaret looked at me and said "I'm not crazy you know." I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded my head. She then told me that she simply gets tired of day to day life sometimes and goes to visit her friends at the guild. Again, I had nothing, so I added a smile to my knod. She then looked at me and asked if she could tell me a story. I will admit, it was purely to appease her and keep her calm, but I said yes. This is the story she told me.
"There was a husband and wife driving through the city. They were not very familiar with their surroundings and unfortunately made a bad turn causing them to get into an accident. The wife was pregnant, but was not due to give birth for more than two months. The accident caused her to go into labour. She gave birth to the baby, but the baby was very weak and the prognosis was not very positive. It was almost a certainty that even with modern medicine and prayer, the baby would not last more than a couple days. However, the baby's uncle came to visit. He saw the heartbreak and sorrow of his brother, sister in-law and other family members around him. The unlce was a member of a guild. A very powerful and magical society that had a rather exclusive membership. Standing next to the baby, he visited the guild and demanded that something be done to save the baby. The guild refused. There was many things they could do, but save someone from dying who was not a member of their society, was forbidden. If every comrade could save the life of every person they did not want to die, no one would ever die. The uncle tried and tried to find some kind of alternative, but failed. It was then that a comrade said something very interesting. If the baby had been born on the day it was intended to be born, they would have been part of the society. The baby still would have been over a month premature, but would have been saved. The uncle attempted to convince the council that the baby was supposed to be part of the guild and therefore needed to be saved. The guild again refused because should have did not translate to is. Even though they were defiant, the uncle did see some weakness and consideration from the council. He felt he was making a decent argument. He then stated that he would trade his enrollment to allow the baby into the guild. The council deliberated and stood firm that it did not make it true. However, they told him that the only circumstance that they would agree to was if the uncle denounced his membership to the guild, the baby would be saved. The uncle immediately and simply looked at the council and said "Goodbye".
At that point Nanny Margaret went away, even though she was still sitting next to me. I saw the similarities in her story and the story my dad told me only a few hours earlier, but I wrote it off as Nanny Margaret's ramblings. Using real life events and melding them with what she believed was real, but wasn't.
Every once and a while, I remember Uncle Matthew, which makes me remember Nanny Margaret, which makes me remember the story. I'm not saying I give the story any more credibility than I did at age ten. But sometimes it's a nice story to believe is true. Even for a few seconds.
