Not quite three years ago, my mother took the Ward Clan--all twelve of us--to Hawaii, as a tribute to my father, who had died 18 months before.
All tagged grief
Rogue Waves
The sign says:
“Rogue waves can
Appear with no warning.
Never turn your back
On the ocean!”
I remember a seder. My first Passover. Watching the full moon out the car window as we drove from Ann Arbor to her home in Flint.
I learned from my mother how to pack for long vacations, channeling the night-before excitement into neat piles of socks and secret surprises for the journey. How to cook over a camp stove, and eat food I’d dropped on the ground. How to swim in my underwear, and bathe in a bucket.
I move slowly through your dresser drawers.
I know you're not in there, but still...
I load black bags with protesting clothes.