The Beginning

“We dedicate this spot of ground to be the final resting place for our brother, friend and loved one, James Paul MacGregor,” the minister said, “may his soul rest in peace.”

Sam tossed and turned but the words continued to repeat themselves. He turned again but still they kept coming. He even tried putting his head under a pillow, yet still he could here these words.

When the sun came up the next morning Sam was very tired. He hadn’t been able to sleep well the night before and so he didn’t feel well. He crawled out of bed and called in to work informing them that he would not be coming in that day.

It had been two weeks since his friend, Mr. MacGregor had passed away. Yet, it was still as fresh in his mind as if it had been yesterday. You see, Mr. MacGregor had befriended Sam, a pig, many years ago. They had met often in the woods and the music store Mr. MacGregor owned. Then, Mr. MacGregor had offered Sam a place to live in his back yard. He had even built a home for him but Sam wasn’t the only one Mr. MacGregor had befriended.

Mr. MacGregor had been loved by many. After he had sold his music store he had volunteered his time at the local children’s hospital reading stories to the children who were ill. He would read to them or tell stories to get them to smile or laugh if they could. Many were dying themselves.

Mr. MacGregor had also spent time with the elderly at rest homes playing the piano for them when they sang. Even though he seemed very busy, always doing something for someone, Mr. MacGregor always had time for his close friends. Now he was going to be missed.

Sam missed him very much. He and Mr. MacGregor had been best of friends for many years. He would sit is in his rocking chair and listen to Sam play the piano.

Sam remember that day two weeks ago when Mr. MacGregor called him.

“Hello,” this is Sam.

“Sam,” Mr. MacGregor said, “I don’t feel very well. Would you mind taking me to the hospital.”

“Sure,” Sam replied and away he scurried. He hurried up the sidewalk and up the stairs. Mr. MacGregor was waiting.

He drove him to the hospital and they entered through the emergency entrance. There Mr. MacGregor was greeted and taken to a room. Sam took a chair in the waiting room. Sam became very nervous. He hoped everything was okay. Then, he heard someone call him. Sam turned to see a doctor approaching him.

“Sam,” she said, “my name is Dr. Rogers.”

“Hello,” Sam said, “is everything going to be okay?”

“No,” she said, “your friend, Mr. MacGregor has died of a heart attack. I am sorry to have to give you this bad news. If there is anything I can do to help you, please do not hesitate to ask me.”

Sam’s eyes became blurry. Tears started to flow and he began to sob. Dr. Rogers reached over then took Sam in her arms. She held him to give him comfort.

“I’m okay,” Sam said, “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Dr. Rogers asked.

“Yes,” Sam replied.

Sam returned home. He felt devastated and lonely. He felt lost, more lost than he had ever felt before. This feeling he had was much worse than when he had been alone while growing up.

‘What will I do without Mr. MacGregor,’ Sam thought. He had never ever thought about what life would be like without him.

Word about Mr. MacGregor’s death spread quickly and soon Sam’s phone was ringing off the wall. People were stopping by and offering their friendship. Even some of Sam’s pigs friends called or dropped by to offer there condolences.

Sam was to meet with the mortuary the following morning to make funeral arrangements. He was the only one who could do this because he had lived on Mr. MacGregor’s land for so long and actually knew him the best. So the next morning Sam awoke and got ready. He put on his best suit and tie and off he went. Upon arriving at the mortuary he was greeted by a very nice gentleman whose name was Thomas Brent. He was the mortuary owner. He relayed his condolences to Sam and asked if he was ready to get started.

They sat down and started the process. Mr. Brent asked Sam what he wanted for a funeral.

“I know that Mr. MacGregor would like a funeral held in the church but I have never been in a church and don’t know if would feel comfortable there. ”

“What are your thoughts then Sam,” Mr. Brent asked.

“Well, I know that Mr. Macgregor would not like to be buried in a casket,” he said. “So I think the best thing to do would be to spread Mr. MacGregor’s ashes over his land. I think that would please him the best,” Sam said.

“Okay then,” Mr. Brent said. “that is what we will plan to do then.”

“Also,” Sam said, “I think if we were to hold a funeral that it should be outside at Mr. MacGregor’s place. Everyone could come out and we could have a couple of speakers and maybe some music. Then at the end we could spread his ashes over the property. ”

Mr. Brent replied, “Sam, I think that is a great idea and I think Mr. MacGregor would really like that.”

So they continued planning and when it was done Sam returned home. Once upon arriving home Sam was quite disappointed. Again he didn’t know what he would do without Mr. MacGregor. As he was looking through Mr. MacGregor’s things Sam found a filing cabinet and decided he should look in there to see if there was something important that he should take care of. He did find one file that seemed like it needed some attention. Upon opening it, Sam was stunned to see that it was Mr. MacGregor’s final will. He opened it up and upon reading found out that Mr. MacGregor had given Sam the entire piece of property, the house and a little money. Sam sat down and cried for a while as he could not believe Mr. MacGregor would have done that. Yes, he knew that they had been friends for a very long time but Mr. MacGregor had lived part of his life in the city and had been well known and so he felt that Mr. MacGregor would have given something to others, but there it was right in front of him, the entire thing would now be Sams.

As Sam had mentioned earlier he had received several phone calls, texts, cards and food. But one particular phone call had stuck with Sam. It was because it was from Tabb, the man he had met along the stream one evening a few weeks ago. He was surprised that Tabb had remembered him.

“Hello,” Sam said as he picked up the phone.

“Hi Sam, this is Tabb. Do you remember me?” Tabb asked.

“Yes, I do,” Sam said.

“I heard about Mr. MacGregor’s death and wanted to check on you to see how you are doing. How are you handling things?”

“I am doing the best I can under the circumstances,” Sam replied.

“Would you mind if I came to visit,” Tabb asked.

“No not at all. It would be good to see you again Tabb,” Sam stated.

“When would be a good time to come by.” Tabb asked.

“Oh, anytime would be fine. The funeral is day after tomorrow and I will be home until then.”

“How about this afternoon?” Tabb asked.

“Sounds good,” Sam replied.

Sam hung up the phone wondering why Tabb wanted to see him. He had only met him a few weeks ago.

Later on that day there was a knock on Sam’s door. Sam went to answer it and found Tabb outside. “Come in Tabb,” Sam said. “Good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Tabb said. He then entered and the two sat down to chat. Tabb said the reason he had wanted to come was that he knew how much Mr. MacGregor had meant to Sam and how his death would have been very difficult for him.

Sam asked Tabb what kind of work he did and Tabb replied “I am an accountant and I work from home so I have flexible hours. Some days are busier than others and some days I am not very busy at all.”

Tabb said he felt bad about not being in touch after they had met. He said he was taken aback when they met and had learned all that Sam had done in his life as a pig. He had never ever thought of having a pig for a friend but as he thought about it and how they had had such a good time at the river that day he decided he didn’t care and wanted to get to know Sam better.

Sam thanked him and said he too would like to get to know Tabb better as well. Tabb said he was going to be coming to the funeral, not because he had known Mr. MacGregor that well, but because he felt that Sam needed a friend to help him through this troubling time. He said that being as young as he was he hadn’t actually met Mr. MacGregor, that he had retired before he was old enough to get to know him, but he had certainly remembered all the stories that had been told in town about him and thought how great of a man he must have been.

Two days later the funeral was held on the lawn next to Mr. MacGregor’s home. Sam was very happy with the number of people that had showed up to pay their last respects to him, many of which he had never met before.

The Reverend from the church Mr. MacGregor had attended gave a wonderful speech. He said that Mr. MacGregor was a happy man, the happiest man he had ever known. He said he was a hard worker before he retired and that most people in the town had really liked Mr. Macgregor as evidenced by the number of people in attendance at his funeral. He said that Mr. MacGregor would be hard to replace. At the end of his speech he gave a short prayer and then the choir sang one of Mr. MacGregor’s favorite songs.

At the end of the funeral Sam went up to pick up the urn that Mr. MacGregor’s ashes were in. He had found a long pole and had attached some string to it so the urn could be raised high and then turned so that the ashes would fall out and with the wind would float to all places around. As Sam lifted Mr. MacGregor’s ashes he said a final farewell to Mr. MacGregor then he pulled the string that slowly tipped the urn and the ashes floated in the air finally settling on the ground quite a distance from where Sam was holding the urn up.

After that the townspeople all paid their respects to Sam and slowly left to return home. Finally Sam was alone or almost alone again. He was very happy with how the service had gone and felt that Mr. MacGregor would have been very happy with it.

But as the people left there remained one person, Tabb. He came over to Sam and spread his arms to give Sam a hug.

“How you doing,” Tabb said. “That was a very wonderful ceremony. I am sure Mr. MacGregor would have been pleased with what you arranged for his funeral.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Sam replied. He told Tabb that he was doing okay considering the circumstances.

Tabb and Sam sat down on a bench and started to chat.

“I know it is very early after his death and everything but have you decided what you will do with Mr. MacGregor’s home? Are you going to move into it?” Tabb asked.

“No. I won’t be moving in to his house,” Sam replied. “I may rent it out.”

“Oh,” Tabb said. “So may I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Sam replied, “Tabb you can ask me anything.”

“Well first, would you enjoy taking a walk up to the river to the spot that you and Mr. MacGregor first met and also the place we met?”

“Sure, I think that would be a wonderful way to end the day, saying goodbye to Mr. MacGregor at the same place we met.”

“Cool, then,” replied Tabb, “the other thing I wanted to ask was if you would be interested in letting me rent Mr. MacGregor’s home. You see I want to be around you more and be available in case of emergencies and also to help you around here. I work from home so it would not be a problem to move out here, that is, if you would be okay with that.”

Sam thought about that for a minute before he spoke. Then he said “Tabb, I think that is great idea. When can you move in?” It would be very nice having a friend close again.”

Tabb replied, “I can move in tomorrow if that is okay.”

“Sure,” Sam said.

“Lets take that hike then,” Tabb said.

So the two of them got up and started hiking towards the river. When they arrived at the location along the stream where Sam had met both Mr. MacGregor and Tabb, they sat down and took in the beauty all around them. The sun was setting and the sky was more beautiful than Sam had seen it in a long time. It was colored with blues, oranges and yellows. Sam felt that Mr. MacGregor was with him and he was comforted by that feeling and knew he would be with him forever.

They sat and visited for several minutes and when it was time to leave Sam said, “Tabb, thank you for coming today for the funeral. It was so nice to have a friend be there for me. It was a difficult day but I am very pleased with how things went.”

“Sam,” Tabb said, “I am very happy to hear that you think I am a friend already. I believe we are. And I think we are going to have many memories in the future. ”

Sam agreed and before they left Tabb gave Sam a big hug. Then they got up and headed back to home.

On the way home, Tabb said, “You know Sam, I think this is the beginning of what is going to be a very long and wonderful friendship.”

Sam couldn’t agree more.