I understand those tears better now than I did then.

At the time I thought she simply did not want to be alone, that the goodbyes were hard the way goodbyes are hard for anyone left behind.

But I have come to believe it was more specific than that.

I believe that Nora, in her long life, had learned exactly how rare it is for someone to show up for you with nothing to gain, and how much rarer still for them to keep showing up.

She had a son who came only when there was an estate to manage.