Harry's Gone

He’s gone. Quietly and almost unnoticed, Harry slipped from us. I sat by his bed and his breaths were part of the room. I stepped out to the hall to find my pills, and swallowed them as I returned.

The room was changed. The breaths were gone. I felt his chest with my shaking hands, but my own shaking was all that I felt.

I whispered to Peter who bounded up awake to meet any challenge but the one ahead of us.


A month laterm between darkness and dawn, an altered photo.

Okay, I am doing the right things. I'm following all the post-funeral advice. I've been to two support groups.

The next time I counsel with the grieving, I'll listen more and advise less.

I am somewhere between the darkness below and the light of dawn.