I didn’t tell her she shouldn’t miss him.

People can hurt us and still occupy large places in our memories.

On the next school reading afternoon, I sat in a chair far too small for me while Emma read a story about a lighthouse keeper who carried a lantern through a storm.

Her voice shook on the first page.

When she found me in the audience, she steadied herself and continued.

Afterward she asked whether Grandma Eleanor would have liked her reading.