When My Kids Didn’t Show Up, My Neighbor Held My Hand Instead

performing.’”

He looked up then, and the grief in his face was so raw it made my stomach ache.

“She would’ve been… happy I did this,” he added. “Even if people talk.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Your mom sounds like she was a good woman.”

David nodded once, sharp and small.

“She was,” he said. “And she died alone in a hospital room because she didn’t continue reading …