I asked Irvin for the shoebox from the garage. He brought it to me without asking why.
I took out every single thing. The notes. The printed text messages. The stale cookies in their ziplock bag. The unopened bottle of wine. The chemistry book in its bookstore bag with the receipt.
I put them in a large clear plastic bag. I sealed it.
Then I went to my closet. I took down the white wedding album with the gold letters. Vanessa & Mark. June 14, 2008.
I wiped the dust off the cover with a soft cloth.
I wrapped it in white tissue paper.
And on Saturday morning, the day of the barbecue, I got up early. Before Irvin. Before Maddie.
And I baked a pie.
Peach. My grandmother’s recipe. With a lattice top and a little cinnamon in the filling. The same pie I brought her the day she moved in.
