Random #1.

Names read off as if it were a cap and gown graduation ceremony. First name. Middle name. Last. I listen for the ones I recognize, but it's too late.

Brenda. Ann. Vitale.

I try to sit down. To work. To deflect this sadness with some urgent jobs I'd promised. But my joints hurt. My face contorts with tears that won't come. I won't let them. And so I shower. Make coffee. Take out trash. Make a shopping list. Kill time.

Tonight, I'll be in his arms. His long arms to surround me, like a wall. All my parts, today in danger of completely detaching and floating away, will be held in place, if only temporarily, by his arms.