Then Daniel looked down at the pink dress.
“So why wear it?” I asked.
He gave a miserable shrug.
“After Dad died, I almost didn’t come. Then I remembered what he said you’d do today.”Order Custom Logos
“Organize everything. Comfort everyone. Make sure everybody ate.”
“He was right.”
He tugged awkwardly at the pink skirt.
“I figured there was one thing you couldn’t organize your way around.”
Despite myself, I laughed.
“You walking into your father’s funeral dressed like me at twenty-three?”
“Exactly.”Clothing
My laughter collapsed into tears.
Daniel knelt beside me.
“I’m sorry I stayed away, Mom.”
“I’m angry you did. But I understand why.”
He nodded.
Then, very quietly, he said, “I knew all Dad’s stories.”
He looked down.Choose Baby Gear
“I knew your passwords. I didn’t know if you still danced, Mom.”
Because I had made it easy.
I remembered birthdays before anyone asked. Fixed problems before anyone noticed them. Said “whatever you want” so often that eventually nobody needed to wonder what I wanted.
“Sometimes,” I whispered, “it was easier to do everything myself than find out whether anybody noticed.”
Daniel took my hand.Book Grief Counseling
“Do you still dance?”
I almost said I hadn’t had time.
Instead, I thought about it.
“I don’t know.”
He didn’t suggest lessons.
Didn’t make a plan.
He just said, “Okay.”Order Custom Logos
That evening, funeral dishes covered my kitchen.
I reached automatically for them.
Then stopped.
“Leave them.”
Daniel stared.
“They’ll be disgusting tomorrow.”
“Then tomorrow can complain.”Find Grief Counseling
He laughed.
A little later, he opened the takeout app.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Whatever you—”
I stopped.
He waited.
No suggestions.Start Baby Registry
No rescue.
I looked at him.
“Chinese.”
Daniel grimaced.
“I hate Chinese.”
I raised an eyebrow.
He sighed.
“Chinese it is.”
For once, the dishes stayed in the sink.
The pink dress stayed where I could see it.Order Custom Logos
And Daniel complained about the egg rolls while I ate exactly what I wanted.
