Mom said she had a church thing. Dad said he had to get the pontoon ready for Memorial Day. Brittany was in Des Moines. She texted me a string of heart emojis and a picture of a cake.Track Pregnancy
Grandpa Earl would have come. He’d have sat in the front row in his good seed cap. He’d have
clapped too loud.
I said the Nightingale Pledge by myself. Then I went to the Pizza Ranch with three girls from my class and their families.
I took a job on the medical floor at the hospital in Corning. Rosary Hospital. Twenty-two beds, twelve-hour shifts, three days a week.
Twenty-nine dollars an hour to start.
I quit the café. I quit the bank. I quit the care center. For the first time since I was nineteen, I had one job.
I didn’t buy one thing that first year.
