Conversations carry on outside the grain-laminate door. Papers rustle. A phone rings with a staccato four-beat tone in the key of “E”. Lights hum. I sit in the last examination room on the left. A middle-aged Filipina in sky-blue scrubs measures my blood pressure. Her eyes widen. “Let me take it on your…

Ever experience a turn in the weather?

Mom and I see the headstone. Salmon, just as we chose. Smooth on top and along the sides, it emerges from a rough base of the same hue. Scattered grass grows on the flattened earth six feet in front of it. We remove the in-ground matching vases. Struggle to insert the simple bouquets we bought…