Checking Out?

BEA: “I’ve stayed too long.”

ME: “What do you mean?”

BEA: “Here. Avec toi.”

Bea doesn’t speak French but throws French expressions into her conversation from time to time for effect.

Is she referring to death? My heart skips a beat. Gravitas does fill her voice.

I have just concluded my mother is indeed saying goodbye when she adds, “How do I initiate it? The paperwork, I mean? I would think it would be through you.”

“Where do you want to go?” I ask.

“To my mother’s house. Home …”

Her tone is heartbreaking.

Who would have thought childhood would leave such an indelible souvenir!