Act I: Married
We had a bird feeder in our backyard, and I often sat at the dining room table watching the swirl of birds through the half-fogged sliding glass door to the backyard like I was watching TV.
He walked home for lunch every day and I sat across the table from him and watched in silence while he ate last night’s leftovers while looking at his phone.
On the weekends, we paraded the twins to the gourmet popcorn shop in Old Town, him in front with the children and me five or so paces behind, enjoying the quiet.
Act II: After I Left
I looked for fat sparrows everywhere like some people look for morels.
As a special education teacher, I worked through lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a few mini cucumbers, and an apple–then dragged another three hours of work home with me in a rolling bag.
Cheese popcorn was my favorite dinner and I don’t know if I ever got all the cheese gunk out of the keyboard of my work laptop.
Act III: Now, In Another Hemisphere
I’m looking out my window at a tree with purple blooms in the middle of winter, watching hummingbirds the size of robins flit back and forth.
I walk to a restaurant every day where mom and grandma work the kitchen while the son waits tables and my three course lunch costs $2.50.
They bring you popcorn to put in the soup, and every time I drop in a handful I giggle.
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