The Leftovers
And then, just like that, I was alone. Unceremoniously. After decades of swimming in the chaos that begat a household of 3-7 children, a thunderous silence settled upon the family home that had, for as long as I could remember, relentlessly buzzed with activity. The first had already gone off to college and then graduated with a 30K student loan for a certificate in a field that was replaced wholesale by AI two weeks before graduation. The middle had struck out on his own earlier in the year, simultaneously determined to not accept any help from his father and also unwilling to help himself. So many life lessons. I'd made a fourth, but she'd always lived with her mom in Vernon, and over the years had become less and less enthusiastic about visiting for a weekend. She hardly returns my text messages anymore, teenagers and all that, so I had never had the opportunity to have her around often enough to be affronted by a conspicuous absence. But now, I was alone. I had never been a...
