Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls (32 page)

So the next day Grams and I pack the biggest picnic lunch you’ve ever seen, plus I bring my whole sack of leftover Halloween candy. Then I make Grams put on her red high-tops and we get Hudson to give us a lift in his sienna rose Cadillac.

“I like the look,” he tells Grams when he sees her shoes and jeans.

“You’re next,” I tell him.

So everyone shows up and Dusty Mike leads us to a perfect spot near the Garden of Repose where we put
down the blankets and spread out lunch. And pretty soon we’re telling stories and eating and laughing our heads off.

In a graveyard.

So even though death still scares me, even though I don’t know if I want to be buried or cremated or dropped in the sea, even though I have no idea if there’s a heaven or a hell or a purgatory that you can get prayed out of, I do know that somehow when I’m in the graveyard with my family and friends, I feel happy.

Peaceful.

It’s a place where I appreciate
life
.

So maybe it’s as simple as that.

Maybe it’s not about how you’re buried or where you’re buried or who prays for you or what you believe.

Maybe the way to rest in peace is to find some peace in life.