ABSTRACT
By chance, on the next break, I found myself alone with Catherine
in the hall. “You best be careful with that strep,” I said. “It’s a nasty
bug, it can be very serious.” And then I added, “My 38-year-old
brother just died six weeks ago from it.” I do not know why I disclosed
this fact. It was probably my way of bringing Brent into my living
world that particular day. I think by trying so hard to force him out
of my consciousness I was fighting the natural order of things.
Catherine’s answer shocked me. “My 38-year-old brother died too-
five years ago.” I gasped. “He was found in a river at the bottom
of a bridge. We don’t really know what happened. I still feel bad
because I wasn’t there. All my life I took care of him and yet at
that one moment, when he needed me the most, I wasn’t there.”
