She's Gone

“It will be okay, Dad.”

Tara’s attempt to soothe her father fell on deaf ears. He could hear nothing but the ragged beats of his own heart and the medical transport vehicle driving away, as he watched his wife of sixty years leave their home for the last time.

“Mom will be fine,” Tara continued. “Did you notice she was smiling when she left?”

John forced his own tear-stained smile as his daughter took his hand in hers.

“I know,” he replied. “But it wasn’t her beautiful smile I fell in love with. It was her beautiful mind.

“She’s gone.”