I laughed quietly.
“Are you assigning me homework?”
“Absolutely.”
She took my hand.
“Your father has spent years telling you who you are. One day, you’re going to have to stop answering to
that description.”
I didn’t realize then how carefully she’d been thinking about the future.
I didn’t realize she’d already begun making decisions.
I only knew she seemed tired.
Before I left, she made me promise I’d come again soon.
I did.
But the next time, she was weaker.
And a few weeks later, she was gone.
The call came early in the morning.
I remember sitting on the edge of my bed afterward, holding my phone, unable to make myself stand.
For several minutes, I did nothing.
Then I opened the bottom drawer of my desk.
I took out the photograph of Nana standing beside me on the day of my commission.
