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, determined like I was at that age to do things the hard way. 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 alone, I realised. What am I supposed to ...
