Dicey's Song Chapter 11 Summary

  • Dr. Epstein isn’t down with the idea of Gram and Dicey taking Momma’s body back to Maryland, because charity cases are donated to medical research.
  • It will be at least $700, he tells them, to transport her back there. That's $700 they don't have, of course.
  • Preston tells Gram that Momma should be cremated, because it's cheaper. Plus it means they can bury her ashes in Maryland, so Gram agrees.
  • Dicey and Gram go to visit the undertaker. Preston has already called and asked for a rush job on the cremation, and the undertaker has sent a vehicle to pick up Momma’s body.
  • However, the cost of cremation is $350, plus the cost of the urn. Dicey and Gram look at urns and don’t like any of them.
  • Dicey remembers the wooden boxes in the wood shop and suggests that they go there and get one.
  • They go to the store, and the man recognizes Dicey and realizes what they need the box for. Being a nice guy, he gives it to them free.
  • Dicey and Gram have to wait until 5:00 to get the ashes, so they go back to the motel. Gram worries how they’ll pay for everything. Then she pulls out the envelope from Mr. Lingerle and sees that he’s given them $500.
  • They call home and tell Mr. Lingerle and the other kids that Momma is dead. Sammy is upset, but Dicey reminds him that they have a family with Gram now.
  • They take a train home, and Dicey holds onto the box. The other passengers keep asking her about it. This is both nosy and somewhat understandable, since she even takes it to the bathroom.
  • Dicey and Gram have a heart-to-heart about reaching out, holding on, and letting go, in which Dicey’s uncle John comes up. He’s still alive somewhere. (Do you smell a sequel?)
  • Mr. Lingerle and the kids come to pick Gram and Dicey up at the train station when they get back to Crisville. 
  • The little kids try to understand how their Momma could be in a box. Sammy doesn’t like it, and Dicey lets him cry on her shoulder on the ride home.