“You’re saying memory is cumulative,” her uncle said. “That it? You’re saying remembering changes your memory. Changes the memory. Is that it?” “Yes!” She rolled her head around, took in a deep breath. “Exactly.” She turned to her left, looked at her uncle, nodded, and smiled. “You said it better than I did.” Her uncle […]

They were on the front porch of the Hoffman home, just the two of them, Vanessa in a chaise lounge – it was bought and put there for her and her only – and her uncle, Bill Piatkowski, seated in an outdoor rocker. “Are you up to date?” she asked him. She was carrying around […]

Wouldn’t you know it? After end-of-life conversations with parents and siblings, with a doctor and a priest and nurses, after discussing life and the afterlife, the existence of God, burial rites and family history, Vanessa’s cancer went into remission. Spending her final night – this time – in the hospital, Vanessa shared a conversation with […]

“Let’s not talk just yet,” Vanessa said. She was scrunched up, on her side again, legs pulled up, a sheet pulled to her chin and held there by pale hands. Hannah had talked with Taylor multiple times about visiting Vanessa. She wanted to go, was afraid she was intruding – meddling – and hadn’t a […]

He remembered picking her up–Vanessa, a toddler–and carrying her, and she squirmed like crazy, wanting down. He put her down and watched her wobble, wearing that determined, toddler-hell-bent-on-walking look. He remembered her hitting the dirt, looking up, checking with him, and he looked down and said, “You’re okay. It’s just a fall. You wanted to […]