I Taught My Son to Ride and Three Weeks Later I Had to Bury His Helmet

would never be ridden by anyone in this world except me — but on the day we took my son to the cemetery, it would ride riderless behind his body.

Bear walked it down the road for the whole eight miles. Engine off. One gloved hand on the throttle grip. The other on the empty seat.

Behind me, three quarters of a mile of chrome and leather and men and women continue reading …