Chapter 16 - Dad’s Birthday
On what would have been Dad’s seventy-first birthday, I visited his grave.
I brought no flowers.
Dad thought cut flowers were a waste.
Instead, I brought peppermint candies.
I sat beside the stone.
“I’m okay.”
Wind moved through the trees.
“I miss you.”
I told him about the company.
The foundation.
Rosa.
Joanne.
Daniel.
Even Ethan.
Then I laughed.
“You were right about enough.”
I left one peppermint beside the marker.
As I stood, Walter approached.
He had one last envelope.
Of course Dad had planned one more thing.
Inside was a handwritten line:
If Claire is smiling when you give her this, tell her to stop letting her dead father run her calendar.
I laughed so loudly Walter joined me.
That was Dad’s final message.
Not money.
May you like
Not warning.
Permission to live.
