She said: well. You never know when turbulence might happen.
She said this serenely.
She said it to the ocean.
She said: I wanted her to know that we were here. That we were going to see the ocean. That she wasn’t going to ruin it.
She said: sometimes you have to make a point in the language available to you.
She said: juice was available to me.
I said: Grandma.
She said: don’t tell your mother.
I said: I was absolutely going to call her tonight.
She said: Callie.
She said my name the way she has always said it.
The whole person in it.
She said: let’s not. Just for now.
She said: just for now, let this be ours.
She reached out and took my hand.
She had always had a good grip.
Even now.
The arthritis in her hands but the grip underneath it still there.
