Chapter 25 Twenty Four

• When I arrived home, the first thing I did was help my mother in her garden. It had become difficult for her to do the things she used to do, like plucking the weeds in the flower pots. I put on plastic gloves and worked under the morning sunlight.
• As I wiped the sweat off my forehead, my mother quietly watered the plants near the edge of the house with a long hose. I looked up at the sky and saw that it was already 7 am. My gaze moved to the swing in front of me, and memories flooded back.
• I remembered my father swinging me on that very swing, telling me a funny story that made me giggle. I wished I had kissed him on the cheek that day and told him how much I loved him and how proud I was to be his daughter. I never would have thought it would be the last time I saw him. My chest ached with loneliness, and tears streamed down my face.