My Granddaughter Whispered Grandpa Do Not Go Home Until I Realized What She Had Heard

in a small notebook she carried everywhere, not looking at me, giving me space, which was a grace I would not have expected from an eight-year-old and which I have never forgotten.

I thought about all the mornings I had taken those pills. All the afternoons I had sat down on the couch because my legs felt strange. All the evenings I had gone to bed continue reading …