My Sister Called to Say Mom Had Died, While Mom Was Standing Right Beside Me

The call came at 7:43 a.m., and the number on the screen made my stomach tighten before I even answered.

Dominique didn’t call early unless she wanted something. When we were kids, she’d bang on my bedroom door before sunrise to announce emergencies that weren’t emergencies. When we were adults, she used the same instinct, the same sense of timing, the same conviction that the world should rearrange itself around her needs.

The patio was still cool from the night. Salt air drifted in from the Atlantic, clean and sharp. A soft Massachusetts sky was beginning to brighten, the kind of quiet morning light that made everything seem forgiving. I was sitting at the wrought-iron table outside our rented continue reading …