I Was the Only One at My Grandpa’s Funeral Until a General Saw His Ring and Asked Me One Question

” I said. “He acted like it mattered.”

She laughed, gently and dismissively, the laugh she used for things she found slightly embarrassing. “You’re reading too much into it. Your grandfather liked to think he was special.”

That word. Liked to think. The framing of a man’s entire life as a performance of significance he had not actually achieved.

“He was continue reading …