Honestly, I don’t know quite how to begin this. Calling you “Mother” just doesn’t feel right, and “Mom” just seems so ordinary, when you were never anything short of  amazing. I found this diary inside the box of research Dad had collected on our ancestors. It may have been put there accidently, though I suspect that it wasn’t. Building up the nerve to actually read it was not easy. You took such care in writing to dad and keeping the letters carefully bound together, it seemed almost sacrilege to disturb them. There is almost a sense that you knew the letters would … Continue reading Chapter 3.23 – Mother

Mark paces back-and-forth in the hospital’s lobby.   He had been at home, setting up for Hope’s birthday party, when the phone call came. David had collapsed at work and was being treated for chest pains. He tries not to think about a similar phone call he received not long ago, but he cannot prevent that terrible day from being conjured in his mind.   Hannah Dempsey, one of David’s oldest friends from the hospital, finally emerges and puts Mark’s mind to rest. David had only suffered an acute anxiety/panic attack. She rubs the back of her neck, as if … Continue reading Chapter 3.22 – Legend

David cheerfully plays with his granddaughter, Hope, before running off to work.   His hands are not nearly as reliable as they were during his youth, so his days as a surgeon have come to an end. Now his is work day consists mostly of diagnosis, consulting, and administrative nonsense. The nine holes of virtual golf he plays helps to break the day up nicely, however.   His routine is interrupted, one particular morning, when his secretary breaks in over the intercom and nervously announces that he has unscheduled visitors. David, in the midst of a crucial shot for a birdie on … Continue reading Chapter 3.21 – Surveillance

Having lost his son Jacob at such a young age has forced David to reevaluate is priorities in life. He decides to shift his focus more toward raising his remaining children, rather than on his career.   — Mary and Elizabeth were born very late in the marriage. Having so many adults in the house, both girls have become independently strong-willed and amazingly self-sufficient. But they have gravitated toward Mei with surprising ease, treating her more like a mother-figure than a sister-in-law. David wonders if the arrangement is healthy so soon after losing their mother, and he fears that they are trying to make Mei into … Continue reading Chapter 3.20 – Caretaker

…if Mei had a word to describe the day after marrying Mark, it would be that …bittersweet.   Their night together had been something for poets to write about, and their morning together was likewise poetic. But the phone call from an “Aunt Yuki” after breakfast changed everything. Mei had seen many emotions play across her lover’s face before. But not this. The color drained out of his cheeks, and the tears fell like streams from his eyes. But his expression was that of an emotionless statue. Something was wrong; something terrible and crushing.   His mother and brother, Jacob, … Continue reading Chapter 3.19 – Bittersweet