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I would be one of the reasons my mother remained alive I had to be

“I’h the tears that gli, who on earth has time for that?”

“You shouldeven more

“Moive into a wave of pain and horrible sadness “I just wanted to let you know that I’ another check over to you at the end of this week I get paid on Thursday night—”

“Oh, honey, stop it,”“You need that money You work hard for it I don’t want you to—”

“Mo exasperated “It’s part of the reason I’m here I can live off the scholarship and—”

“Tell me you’re there for reasons besides me, baby Otherwise, I want you to cohten

My gaze wandered toward theand I stared out at the gorgeous Middle Eastern landscape The ht Beyond that, the ocean churned on in all its turquoise and white caps, a sight I’d grown accustomed to on weekend hikes The people arm, alive in ways that the people in my South Dakotan toere not They simply couldn’t be; times were hard, and smiles were hard to come by

“I do like it here, Momma I just miss you”

“I miss you, too”

I sed sharply, closingvoice of , a habit he’d pronosis

“Can I talk to her?” I heard him say

Soon, the phone was passed to him I could visualize it clearly: my parents, Sarah and Joe Peretti, poised at the kitchen table, watching as the sun rose over the bright green grass in the front yard I’d seen it countless times before