EASTER SUNDAY
CHARACTERS
MATT: middle-aged man, 40-50, HELEN’s younger brother
HELEN: middle-aged woman, 45-55, sister to MATT
SETTING
A sitting room in an assisted-living center. Time, the present, late afternoon.
PUBLICATION
The Ponder Review, Spring 2022 (6, no. 1)
PRODUCTION
Staged Reading, Reader’s Theatre, Northport Players. Northport NY, Oct. 16, 2023; radio adaptation broadcast by the Yeppoon Little Theatre, Queensland, AUS, Oct. 20, 2022, on KeppelFM 91.3; produced by Theatre One Productions at the Alley Theatre, Middleboro, MA, for the Slice-of-Life New Works Play Festival, June 17 and 18, 2011
ACT ONE
(A table, downstage center. On one side sits HELEN, facing the audience. She’s a middle-aged woman, wearing casual clothes meant to be comfortable. An empty chair is positioned on the other side of the table.
Enter MATT from upstage. He’s wearing a business suit, slightly disheveled, as if he’s just disembarked from a long flight. He’s carrying a cup of coffee and stops behind the empty chair. HELEN looks up towards him, as if expecting him to apologize for something.)
MATT
Can I get you a cup of coffee, Sis? There’s a full pot in the dispensary.
HELEN
It’s not a dispensary, Matt. It’s a kitchen. They like to make you think you’re at home here.
MATT
Can I get you a cup? It smells like it’s been freshly made.
HELEN
No thanks. I’ve got a sour enough taste in my mouth.
MATT
A glass of water, then?
HELEN
I’m perfectly capable of getting myself a glass of water if I want one.
MATT
Ok, ok. But you won’t mind if I sit down, will you?
HELEN
Not at all. Be my guest.
(MATT sits down in the empty chair, facing the audience. He begins to sip his coffee.)
MATT
You were right. Mom looked just awful. I hardly recognized her.
HELEN
It’s been terrible these last few days. You have no idea what it was like. I wasn’t ready for it to happen so quickly. So much all at once . . .
MATT
Well, at least that was a blessing in disguise.
HELEN
A blessing?
MATT
. . . in disguise. It’s an expression. Remember, it could’ve been long and lingering, like Dad’s.
HELEN
You missed that one, too, didn’t you?
MATT
Look, Sis, I came as soon as I could. When you called on Friday . . .
HELEN
I called you first on Wednesday. Wednesday, if I recall correctly.
MATT
Right, but then she began to improve. Or at least, she wasn’t getting any worse, and . . .
HELEN
Who told you that?
MATT
The head nurse here. You know I’ve been in contact with her, and she knows to keep me informed.
HELEN
Oh, so I guess my opinion wasn’t good enough for you?
MATT
She told me her blood pressure was stabilizing, tests were inconclusive. . .
HELEN
Did she also tell you she hadn’t eaten a thing for two days and was becoming more and more incoherent? No, that you heard from me.
MATT
Just like in January when I flew in on the redeye, and then found her eating ice cream in the dispens . . . in the kitchen, as happy as a clam, and the time before when . . .
HELEN
For two days! They alerted the hospice people on Wednesday. She could hardly even drink a
glass of water! I told you that on Wednesday. Wasn’t that enough?
MATT
Look, the nurse said . . .
HELEN
The nurse? Who knows better than me?
MATT
You do exaggerate at times.
HELEN
Well, I guess I wasn’t exaggerating this time, was I?
MATT
What I meant was, you’ve always been too close. Nurses have a sort of professional distance.
HELEN
Distance? I could see why that would appeal to you.
MATT
Look, Sis . . .
HELEN
Too close, right? That’s right, what would I know? After all, I was here all of three, four times a week this last month. That sure could wreak havoc on anyone’s objectivity. Way too close! And then seeing that she always had the right clothes, clean underwear. Her makeup, too, and the hairdresser, and the monthly dental appointments, and, oh yes, those late-night hospital emergencies. Much too close. And if she was up to it, dinners out on Sundays, and Mother’s Day—now that was a real disaster—and Thanksgiving . . .
MATT
I was here Christmas.
HELEN
Right. Just under the wire to keep your average up to two visits a year . . .
MATT
Look, Sis, it’s a long flight . . .
HELEN
Four hours and forty-five minutes to be exact. You keep reminding me. And expensive, too. Six hundred and thirty-five dollars. That was Christmas, wasn’t it?
MATT
Closer to a thousand this time. When it’s the last minute . . .
HELEN
And how much for the rental car? Thirty-five a day?
MATT
Forty-five. Like I said, when it’s the last minute.
HELEN
And still you couldn’t get here on time.
MATT
Look, I came as soon as I could. When you called on Friday . . .
HELEN
And you were dead sure I wasn’t exaggerating. And even then, you waited until today. Sunday afternoon.
MATT
It’s Easter weekend, for God’s sakes. It wasn’t easy finding a flight. Sunday morning was the best I could do, and even then I had to get up at four a.m.
HELEN
There were three flights Saturday.
MATT
You checked?
HELEN
United, American Airlines. You want their numbers?
MATT
Those were all morning flights, right? I told you over the phone we had an emergency budget meeting Saturday morning. I had to be there. It was a crisis. And there were no flights open after two p.m.
HELEN
An emergency? A crisis?
MATT
That’s right. We didn’t get approval for our budget. We had to redo it. I didn’t have a choice.
HELEN
We always have choices, Matt. It’s just that some are harder to make than others. Pity you won’t get a second chance on this one.
MATT
Look, Helen, I’m sorry. I . . .
HELEN
I’m not the one you need to apologize to. . . . Oh, Matt, she wanted so much to see you. She was so desperate, as if she knew it would be the last time, as if she was holding on ‘til you got here. She just wouldn’t let go. Even when she fell into that coma, she was still struggling so . . .
MATT
Coma? What coma? Nobody said anything about a coma. When did that happen?
HELEN
Early Saturday morning. I went out for some fresh air and breakfast, and when I returned . . .
MATT
So, I guess it wouldn’t have made much of a difference if I’d flown in yesterday, right?
HELEN
She was in and out of it. She was struggling so hard against the pain at the end. It was awful, twisting and moaning as if the bed were on fire, and when they tried to change her position it just kept on getting worse, so bad they doubled the morphine . . .
MATT
Morphine? Morphine and a coma?
HELEN
She would’ve known you were here. I’m sure of it. Sometimes, yesterday, this morning, I could feel her pressing my hand. And then the expression on her face would soften, and I could see the recognition in her eyes. I’m sure of it, and I’m sure I heard her saying my name a couple of times, and yours, too. She was holding on, just waiting for you to get here so she could say good-bye. So she could let go.
MATT
You think so? Above the coma? Above the morphine?
HELEN
I know so. I’m sure of it.
MATT
Well, at least she had time enough to say good-bye to you, and apparently that was sufficient.
(He rises from the chair.)
I’d like to go back to her room one last time. I’d like to hold her hand for awhile. To say good-bye in my own way. Who knows? Maybe she’s still around, still waiting for me. Above death. After all, if she could overcome coma and a double dose of morphine . . . Do you want to come?
HELEN
No. I’ve seen enough these last few days. I don’t want to remember her like that.
MATT
Ok. I won’t be long. And then we’ll go back to the house. We’ve got a lot to take care of. We should get started. We’ll need to make lots of calls. We should make a list.
HELEN
A list?
MATT
Sure. Relatives, our friends need to be informed. I’ve got to call Carol, make arrangements for her. And then there’s the lawyer, the estate. . . and then the funeral, the obituaries, I can’t even begin to enumerate. . .
HELEN
I don’t want to think about all that now.
MATT
That’s exactly what we should be thinking about now. That’s what it’s all for, all those details and rituals, and friends and relatives. All those things to do. Bury yourself in the details so you can forget about all this. It’s all part of the grieving process. A process, to help us get back to our normal lives and get over all the . . . unpleasantness. So, we’ll go back to your house and do what needs to be done.
HELEN
What needs to be done. Ok, you hold Mom’s cold hand for as long as you like, and I’ll wait for you here. I’ve got to pick up the kids first, and then we’ll go back home and make a list of all those things and do what needs to be done, and when it’s all done with, we’ll do our best to get over all the . . . unpleasantness. Just like you said.
MATT
That’s right. We’ll do our best. We’ll do what we can to remember the good and forget the rest. Ok?
(MATT waits a moment for an answer, and when he doesn’t receive one, he finishes his coffee and exits upstage.)
HELEN
But I won’t forget. No, I’ll never forget. . . .
(Pauses a bit, and then quietly, but with assurance in her voice.)
And I don’t think you will either. . . . No, you won’t . . . . I’ll see to that.
Blackout.