PurpleSimmer455

The perfectionist always felt pressure to perform when all eyes were on her, but tonight she didn't care about the chance she might screw up. Saying a proper goodbye to her grandfather, who died before she returned from Tomarang, was more important.

None were into Neal's passion for fabrication and working with their hands like Lavender had always been, and none could understand the discomfort of feeling alone in a crowded room of otherwise outgoing friends and family. She was like him in so many ways, and she would miss him more than anything.

Speaking through tears, she recalled how he'd always encouraged her to create with her hands, whether it was music from her violin or 3D-printed rugs in his expensive fabrication machine. She remembered their summer chasing whispers on the wind, and she already missed the sound of his laugh when their grandma Daisy told a good joke.

The funeral didn't end until late, with no one ready to leave Neal's grave and head home without him. But eventually, they had to carry on living no matter how much it hurt.

In the days after the funeral, Lavender began to second guess her plans to move across the country on her own. She spent time with the family's beloved companion, Gord, and she feared losing anyone else.

As the days before her move inched closer, she pulled her parents aside for some advice.

"What if I stayed and found a workshop out here? What if it's a mistake to be so far from everyone I care about?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't want you to stay," Heather said. "But you made a good plan and it wouldn't make sense for you not to follow through on it now. I don't think your grandfather would think it's a mistake for you to go, and we promised to pay for your flight home any time you want to visit."

"You won't want to bail on our cross-country road trip once you see the tunes I've picked out," added Conrad with a laugh.

"Are you really not going?" questioned twelve-year-old Iris.

"You didn't want me to go, like, six months ago."

"Yeah, but you have to follow your desires," she said. "Don't hold yourself back, like Petunia Beeswax in Buzz of Desire!"

"Isn't that a romance novel?"

"Only the best love story ever! And there's even a whole series by writers with even more Starlight Accolades than Mom, like Layla Delarosa @changingplumbob and Mercury Medley @itmeansiris! Mom said I could read them all."

"I said you could read them when you turn sixteen," Heather interjected. "I still don't know how a copy of one of those books ended up in the school library."

"It's really popular," Lavender said. "I heard they're making the whole anthology series a TV show."

Iris beamed. "They are?! If you move to Evergreen Harbour, will you have a TV?"

"I'll get one so we can watch the show on Simflix together," Lavender promised.

"So you are going to go, then?"

Her brother, Roan, called up from the alcove where he was playing with Gord. "If you don't go, I'll make fun of you so bad for chickening out! It's not like it's a violin recital or anything."

Conrad frowned and called back over the banister. "Shut it, Roan, or you're on dog walk duty for a month."

"So what? The dog's like it when I walk them because I jog faster than you!"

Conrad seethed, torn because he could remember treating his own father far worse than Roan ever treated him. "Three months, dog walk duty every night. You earned it, too."

Despite all Roan's work with his grief counselors, in straightforward terms he was still a little shit. Though they hated to think ahead regarding his chosen career path as a fighter pilot, some days Heather and Conrad actually looked forward to the military shaping him up when he inevitably talked back to his future sargeant.

Lavender wouldn't miss Roan's snarky quips in Evergreen Harbour, but she would still miss her little brother. The night before she left, she rummaged through the trash for missed recyclables before she found him in the yard and pulled him from his telescope.

"Hey, stinkbomb," he greeted. "What'd you find in the trash?"

"Did you find any spaceships out there tonight?"

Roan frowned. "You all think it's impossible."

"I really don't," she insisted. "I think you're impossible sometimes. Watch out for falling meteors, and try to be nice to the aliens if you find them someday - at least until you know for sure what they want. If anyone could accidentally start an intergalactic war with their bad attitude, it's you."

Roan grinned pridefully. "If they show up looking for intergalactic war, it wouldn't be an accident."

"I'm not leaving Brindleton Bay until you promise not to start a war with the aliens."

Roan let out an exasperated huff and Lavender rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to start a war with the aliens, but if they start one I'll finish it."

"And if you keep your promise not to start one, I won't tell our parents you just said that."

Roan grumbled, but Lavender stood her ground. "Roan, I'm not kidding, if you do something to break Mom's heart, Grandpa Neal and Great Uncle Karl will probably come back from the Afterlife just to haunt you."

"Deal," he relented, letting his guard down when Lavender leaned in for a hug. "I'm not reckless. Have fun driving across the country listening to Dad's old man music."

"I love you, fartface."

"I love you, too, idiot. Don't fall into any dumpsters you can't get out of in Evergreen Harbour."

Lavender sighed. Soon enough, she realized, she might even miss conversations like this, and she hugged her brother a little tighter. ->

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When Marlena sadly lowered her head, Anisa scrambled to fill the sudden silence.

Anisa: Look. I do like you, it's just...a lot right now.

Marlena: [sighs] You like to be mysterious. I remember. Hard to get?

"Mom, what is it?" she pressed. "You don't sound okay; what's going on?"

"Sorry, Lavender; I'm still in shock. It's your grandfather."

Lavender gasped, choking on the knot that formed in he throat. "What happened? Is he okay?"

Spring in Henford had been particularly nice this year. The chicks and the dogs were out in the yard at the Nesbitt home, and Daisy was elbow deep into some spring cleaning. Neal Nesbitt was at home that morning, working away at his fabricator while his grandson, Sam, used his reclaimed wood workbench in the yard.

The sun beat down on the men and their tools, and Neal felt his heart race and lost his footing. On his knees, he checked his pulse, losing consciousness as Sam called for help.

His wife of 51 years raced to his side, and son River, wife Cassandra, and their two youngest, Sam and Tori, looked on with helpless sobs.

They were all there as Neal took his last breath.

The sudden heart attack stunned his family. Forced to turn to the horrendous task of informing their loved ones and planning the funeral, Neal's family did what they did best in times of crisis, and they leaned on each other to grieve his passing.

On the day of his burial, the Nesbitts dressed well as they puttered around the house. River harvested beet meat from the garden wall where Neal first invented Nesbeets All-Natural Beet Meat - a product which fast became his legacy and a staple in meat-free recipes like Nesbeets Wellington, NeebeetLT sandwiches, and spaghetti and beetballs.

Neal gave the company to River in retirement, but he'd remained a mentor to his son. But now wise old River - always mature for his age despite being born third of Neal and Daisy's four kids - was the Nesbitt family patriarch. And oh, what he wouldn't give for some advice from his father now.

A plot was laid for Neal at the medieval church in Old New Henford, and the family gathered on another sunny day in late spring to honour the memory of their family patriarch.

Lavender was devastated by the loss of her beloved grandfather, right as she was reeling from her breakup with Violet. But the loss of Violet paled in comparison to the loss of grandpa Neal Nesbitt, who was both a mentor and a friend. His loss left a hole she felt like she'd never fill.

The close family found comfort in being together for the funeral, though Lavender could scarcely pay attention when her young cousin, Marlin, talked their Uncle River's ear off about his memorable time at Camp Gibbi Gibbi with @simmerbeans.

"I did fishing, and kayaking, and I saw a geyser that farts out steam! I made a lot of friends, like Archer and Posy and Cassie and Levi. There was a girl named River, like your name!" he rambled. The family was glad he made such good memories of his time there, grateful he could focus on something other than his grief.

"River got mad when I beat her at archery because she's a sore loser, but she was way better at fishing than me. She didn't like me because I'm from the city and she's from Gibbi Point, but I still think she's kinda nice. Her sister's way nicer, though. I bet Grandpa Neal would have loved Camp Gibbi Gibbi with how much he loved Granite Falls!"

Lavender grimaced remembering trips to Granite Falls with the family as a child, basking in the beauty of their grandfather's favourite place as he taught them about bugs and the joy of sleeping out under the stars. Now, the memories just reminded her that he was gone.

She was supposed to take his old fabricated furniture from storage out to Evergreen Harbour, but she wanted to get in a few more weeks of mentoring at the fabricator before she headed west. Now, she'd be taking his old fabricator, too - but she'd trade it all to have him back.

It wasn't just family who made it to Old Henford Church for the sad graveside ceremony - held entirely outdoors because Neal loved it that way. Bella Goth paid her respects in fabulous fashion, as usual. Bob Pancakes and his wife, Annette, the Nesbitts' longtime neighbours at the other end of Cobblebottom Street, came to offer condolences, while family friend Jett Pancakes - Bob's grandson - was there with his girlfriend, Jada Bjerg-Watson.

(Jett is Violet and Greyson Pancakes' brother, but also Neal's biological grandson as Heather served as a surrogate mother for Violet's parents, Everett and Spencer. But the whole family's relationship with Jett has always been more friendly than familial out of respect for his legal parents.)

Jett had recently graduated law school and Jada worked in digital media production. Though older brother Greyson had moved to Windenburg with wife Lucy Burb, and Violet intended to stay in Tomarang, Jett and Jada had no plans to leave Henford for now.

"Neal was always kind to me," Jett reminisced. "I'll miss chatting with him about all sorts of things."

Expert botanist Daisy's tears watered the daisy bush she planted next to his headstone, before she offered a lighthearted eulogy. Neal had fallen in love with her cheerful optimism decades ago, and as sad as she was, she wouldn't let Neal's death break her spirit.

Their first grandchild, newlywed Ash, came from the city with with Pearl, and the confident ghost whisperer let everyone know Neal's ghost was hanging around - but Neal wasn't close enough to touch, no matter how hard his loved ones tried to reach him.

"I think he's just observing. He seems okay, just sad that we're upset. I don't think Grandpa's got any unfinished business."

And that, indeed, was true. Eco-innovator and outdoor enthusiast Neal had lived a wonderful life, with a beautiful wife who mourned his missing place in the bed they shared for 51 years, and a family who would hold him in their memories for decades to come.

When tonight was over and his family soldiered on without him, Neal could rest well knowing his family were determined to live the kind of lives that honoured his legacy. ->

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NOTE: My desperation for one more full family portrait is more obvious now when you remember I plot my sim deaths sometimes decades ahead with dice rolls, so I know when they'll pass away (it won't all be at the same age!) and I can turn it into storyline that works with whatever else is happening at the time. I still allow for random death events to take sims out from time to time, but my elders' age spans are exceptionally long so they can't really expire on me without warning.

Unfortunately, Neal didn't get high numbers when I rolled and was only 73 when he died, which bummed me out but lined up with when I figured Lavender would be getting ready to start her life. Her breakup with Violet came later in the plotting but made this a very relatable time for me, because I've been in Lavender's shoes mourning a breakup only to suddenly lose my dad, like Lavender and her Grandpa Neal. It'll be six years tomorrow since my dad passed, and when I realized Neal's death would align with the anniversary of my dad's death, I decided to embrace it.