Yesterday, my neighbor sent her granddaughter to summon me. My neighbor is 84 years old and doesn’t move around easily. I walked over to her house to see what she wanted.

Someone had died. Two people. Make that three. She’d had a bad year. Yesterday was a bad day.

I think we talked for about an hour, and in the course of our conversation something made her laugh. As I watched her, I realized in the 13 years I’ve known her I had never seen her smile. Her face was completely changed, so soft. I can’t stop thinking about it.