The women chattered, about life without his Uncle Tim, the farm, the state of the old place, the price of food general women`s chatter. Mother had bro...ght some material for Mary, Jed`s wife and perhaps as a tactful with-drawl she decided to walk down and visit Mary and the cottage. The door had hardly closed when Ellie turned to him and said that “she had been told the situation,” and that “she still hoped that before she died perhaps her bucket list would be fulfilled!” wistfully adding that. My stomach lurched as I heard her door open and her footsteps as she came down the hall. I stared intently into my cereal bowl, not daring to look at her, not wanting to see the looks she gave me last night. She came into the kitchen and started making coffee like she did every morning. She came over and kissed me on the top of the head, ruffling my hair with a “morning Vinnie” like normal too.My head was spinning. She was not yelling FAGGOT at me, wasn’t mad, wasn’t anything. It was just like. I drove into this suburban neighborhood and it appeared I took a wrong turn, because I could not find the way to the main street which led us back home…Helena suggested stop at a small supermarket car park, to ask directions.As I got out of the car and went to the ladies room, my girlfriend took a map from the glove compartment and tried to look for our situation there.Soon she called a young guy there to help her.When I came back, the guy had stuck his head in the window and was reaching down. "You got it now? Okay, let's open it." Sandy pulled the top open and reached inside. I put my finger under the tape and flicked it open. Inside was a vibrator, shiny and white. I hadn't held one since college. I smiled and looked up.Sandy was holding hers up and wriggling it at me. "Nice, huh? My own little battery-operated ticket to Heaven."I picked up the vibrator and looked at it. It was long and sleek, tapered to a soft point at the end. On the bottom was a dial. I turned it and the.