Today I stumbled across her obituary

It was nestled in the thin newspaper pages

Between bastard cat ads and articles titled

"12 year old girl's pumpkin wins first place" and

"Topeka braces for second tornado this season"

I slid my horn rimmed frames father down my nose

But her face in black and white

Still looked faded

Compared to the vibrancy I once knew

Helen Kay Richter

1921 to 2002

 

Eighteen years since I signed my way out

Taking with me

Half of the money

Half of the lake house

Half of the furniture and other odds and ends

That only made me think about

Her

 

Turns out

 

She'd found a new family

One that already owned dozens of children and grandchildren to dote on

But I remember nights when her tear ducts had nothing left to give

Sprawled out on the bathroom floor

Screaming at a pregnancy test that only ever displayed negative

I still wish I could have given her more

 

She'd found a new family

One belonging to a man

Who was born about the same year as me

But who could truly make her happy

Who went jogging

Who cooked crepes each morning

Who wore classy clothes and drove a red corvette

Who had a full head of silver hair

Who always made it a priority to do little things to show he cared

 

She'd found a new family

One to write a beautiful obituary

With an eloquence I never possessed

I must say I've never wanted to tell her more

"I am so happy you left me"

Now that she's dead