16 L.J. (Marmorstein) Stevens . . . but I was tired. The second week of school was brutal, and I hadn’t slept in days. Besides, I thought that there would still be time to hold your hand and tell you I was glad you moved here all the way fromCalifornia where all the hills were gold, and citrus trees bloomed in the summertime. You spent these years, these seven snowy winters, in my town, and though I rarely made the time to visit, I knew that you were here, and I was glad. I thought there would be time. I told myself there would be time—yet somehow, still, I knew that even if there were, I wouldn’t go. Perhaps it was the fear that I would see you sick and quiet—even worse, in pain, not knowing who I was, or where you were. I do not knowwhat words I would have said if I had set my selfish fears aside— but take these words, if you can hear them now, across the boundaries of death and time: If there’s a God, I will see you again and hold you like I should have held you then. i should have said goodbye
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzkyNTY=