Grey skies greeted him as he walked out the door. Cautiously, like floating in the vacuum of outer space, he pulled himself along the sidewalk, stopping suddenly, bumping his car. The couple next door loaded their little ones into their minivan. They spoke to each other but uttered very little sound. His world was hauntingly quiet. The atmosphere, so still, he considered gasping for air.

He entered his vehicle adjusting the mirrors almost immediately. Finding the angle for their reflection, he saw the little ones now safely buckled in. He reached across his shoulder for his seat belt, pulled the strap all the way out and returned it gradually, making the harness tight at his waist and taut against his chest. His eyes reflected the image of a man approaching at his side.

“Sure you don’t want to ride with us, Dad? Jen said she’d sit in the back with the kids.”

“No!” he said, shaking the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. “I drove the day we met… I passed by…said ‘hello’ – I’ll drive to say ‘goodbye’.”