MONA LISA’S SMIRK

Photo by Eric TERRADE on Unsplash

We were locked-out. I was baffled, we had just had a meeting about how the five of us were going to work together and get the house ready. We rushed through every room, packing, throwing away without time to reflect. The old knick-knacks that we made fun of now each of us bidding to keep.

I went to the podium first and in between sobs, I summarized my mother’s life in a few words. I gave myself permission this one time to express…