The door attendant closed the heavy wooden doors as a man entered the room, sealing him off from the cool spring afternoon. The visitor entered alone while his companion waited on the other side, patiently awaiting his arrival. Just inside the door, a line of men and women made their way through the back of the room, between the old dark wooden desks on either side of the hallway, and into the back room. The line slowly crept towards the end of the room and became shorter and shorter. When he finally reached the beginning of the row of desks, he noticed a small podium a few steps in front of him. A woman and a child stood in front of the man and signed their names and addresses in a black book placed on the podium. The child asked his mother, “What is the use of signing our names?” “They use it so they know who to send thank-you letters to,” the mother said. “But why would the Hills send thank you letters?” "To thank the people who came to support them today." After the woman finished signing their names and addresses in the book the doorman took the podium and moved it to the far end of the room. He took the black book from the podium and placed it in the pocket of his black jacket. The door attendant then began walking towards the other end of the line and disappeared into the other room. The little boy looked ahead in the line to see what was happening and said to his mother, "Who died?" it was Miss Alice from the street," said the mother. "She died of old age." The man in front of the mother and child turned and said, "It's a shame what happened to your husband." He held out his hand "My name is Rick." The mother grabbed her... half a sheet... went down the steps and headed towards their cars. Just before they were forced to part ways, they stopped and Martha said: "Goodbye Rick, it was a pleasure to meet you! You, your wife and I should really get to know each other!" "Sure, see you later!" Rick said just before turning and walking towards his old truck. The man on the other end of the line shuffled down the porch and stepped onto the black sidewalk. He walked towards the back of the car. His wife was leaning on the end of the car waiting for him to exit the building. His hair was cut short enough to barely reach the gray collar of her dress. In her hair, she tucked a purple flower snugly behind her ear. She didn't say a word to him, just smiled, then they got into their red Dodge Viper Convertible and disappeared into the traffic...