I Thought My Grandfather Left Me Only A Ring Until Someone Recognized It And Changed Everything

to other people’s grief being put on display. It sits in his hallway now where the late-afternoon sunlight hits it in a long diagonal stripe.

Not because I need strangers to know who he was.

Because I do.

Sometimes I still hear him in practical things. Fold the blanket right. Keep the beam low. Panic wastes more energy than darkness.

On quiet nights, I continue reading …