An Acknowledgment

So, on May 29th I turned 52, which also marked the end of my first year of retirement. On June 30th, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. On July 4th, my youngest turned 18.

She sits inside with us, lost in the quiet, lost entirely, seemingly still. Outside the window, the snow has transformed the windowsills, walkways and tree branches, so they are no longer familiar. Do they mirror her mind, with its own white drifts and shapes that won’t form? Or, if they form, do they blow…