A rainy Tuesday morning, 1987
"Look at the little angel sleep! So peaceful, bliss in his ignorance. Rest, my sweet, mummy will sing you a lullaby. Hush little baby, don't say a word..."
Two years later
"Mum! I can't sleep!"
"Alright dear, would you like mum to sing you to sleep?"
"Uh huh!"
"Alright, my sweet. Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop..."
"Hmm.. Good.. night.... mum..."
"Good night, sweet child."
A warm summer's night, 1993
"But why do the other kids pick on me?"
"Well, son, it's difficult.."
"All of them know who their dads are.. Who's mine, mum?"
"Dearest, please, you'll understand when you're older..."
"No! I wanna know!"
"Please, child.."
"Good night, mother."
Sometime in the year 2005
"My son, all grown up now. Just look at you!"
"Not now, ma! You'll embarrass me in front of all my friends!"
"Oh, remember when I used to sing you to sleep?"
"Ma!"
"Fine! I'm sorry. But really, your father would have been proud of you."
"My father.."
"I'm sorry, son, I didn't mean.."
"No, it's alright ma. I just.. I just need to be alone.. To think.."
"I love you, my sweet.."
The summer of 2010
"Mother, I'd like you to meet Emma. We.. are getting married!"
"Oh congratulations, darling! I'm so happy for you! I'm sure the two of you will be very happy together!"
"Thank you, Mrs Cooper. Or should I call you mom?"
"Oh dear, I'm not Mrs Cooper.. I'm just Miss Cooper."
"Oh. But, I thought.. Since you had.."
"Hey, Emma, it's getting late, we should be going soon, else we'll be late, don't you think?"
"Right, dear. Well, it was really nice to meet you.. Miss Cooper."
"Please dear, call me mum."
"Alright.. Mum. We should really get going now, but we'll see you at the ceremony?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, dears."
(after Emma leaves, Alex turns to his mother, evidently upset)
"You didn't have to bring that up, mother."
"I'm sorry dear.. It's just, I have no one to.."
"Save it, mother, You aren't invited to our wedding."
"Please, dear, I didn't mean.."
"Good bye, mother."
A cold autumn afternoon, 2016
"Thank you all for coming here today. We are here to celebrate the life and death of the late Genevieve Cooper, survived by her lone son, Alex Cooper, who has written a eulogy to honor her memory."
"Thank you, Father. As most of my close friends and family would know, my mother and I had a falling out, right around the time I got married. It was the only real occasion I was angry at her, because it was about my father. I can't remember him smiling, I can't remember him shouting, I just didn't know who he was. Then, three days ago, when the news came to me, I went to her house, my childhood home, grief-stricken, for the last words I had said to my mother were too harsh to be last words. I went up to my room, and the memories came back to me, her singing me to sleep, my first day at school, my 18th birthday celebration , and it was too much for me to handle. I decided to leave without any haste. On my way out, I met her neighbors, who had heard of the news, and had something to give me; a tattered, old journal. Nothing fancy, just a diary of sorts. But one look at it and I knew. I had seen my mother writing away in this book all the time when I was younger, but I had never really paid attention to it much. So, I went home, and opened the book to a journal entry for a date in 1986. It read, "I have some big decisions to make. I haven't told him yet, I'm afraid he'll leave because he's not ready for a long-term commitment. "The next one, marked a few weeks later read, "I have decided to raise this child as my own. Alex left a few days ago, but as crazy as it sounds, I still love him. And I know what I want to name my child." It was too much for me, as I realized what had happened. I flipped to the last entry in her journal, the one for the date of my wedding. It read, "Today is my only son's wedding day, and I wasn't allowed to go. After all I've been through, I thought telling him would be simple enough. I guess he is his father's son after all. I've made up my mind. If we ever talk to each other again, I'll tell him who his father is. We could all do with some closure. My son.. I still remember singing him to sleep as a child.." And that's when I decided. I already had both a mother, and a father. And her name was Genevieve Cooper. I can't take back the things I have said. But I can say this much. To my father, who helped me through life, I have to say, I love you. And to my mother, who was there through every step of the way, I have to say, thank you for the music.."