Obituary

It hit her consciousness like a
guided missile, but the effect
was not lethal, merely after all
these years, indifference. There
were the loving acknowledgements
beloved mother, father predeceased
two sons and a daughter remaining
to mourn. Oh yes, of course, two
grandsons. No mention made of
a granddaughter; obviously none
exists. She knows the names but
not their bearers. Strangers, they
all are, her father included. No
interest whatever in recognizing
her presence. She had puzzled
as a child that others had fathers
and two sets of grandparents.
She has long since accommodated
herself to her reality: mother,
maternal grandparents, ample love.