Margaret’s Last Journey
Chapter 18 - Margaret’s Last Journey
Margaret Ellis died peacefully at eighty-three.
Before her death, she asked Clara to take one final trip.
They flew to Maine carrying Thomas’s restored suitcase.
Inside were his coat, notebook, and ashes.
The airline offered first-class seats after learning who Margaret was.
She refused.
“I spent my life sitting with ordinary people. I’ll finish there.”
At baggage claim, the blue suitcase arrived intact.
Margaret touched the handle.
“This is the first time it came back as itself.”
They scattered Thomas’s ashes near the courthouse where he began his career.
Margaret gave Clara the notebook.
“He trusted records. You taught me records need people willing to read them.”
After her death, Northbridge named the restitution center for Thomas and Margaret Ellis.
Clara objected to naming everything after people.
Noah suggested a compromise.
The sign read:
THE ELLIS CENTER FOR RETURNING WHAT WAS TAKEN.
May you like
The work mattered more than the names.
Margaret would have approved.
