Joanne Brennan — The Husband Who Thought He Could Come Home

Orange juice.

Birthday candles.

A note at the bottom read, Ask Jo if she needs anything.

I held the list for a long time.

I remembered the man who had written it.

He had been young, sometimes thoughtless, but capable of small gestures that made me feel loved.

I couldn’t know when that habit had vanished or whether I had stopped seeing it long before the end.

I put the list in a box with old photographs.