That afternoon, my phone buzzed with a message from an unfamiliar number.
It was Eli.
I stared at the screen, unsure how to respond. Then I heard my mother’s voice again, clear as ever.
Show up.
“I’m glad you did,” I typed back. “Would you like to get coffee sometime?”
His reply came quickly. “I’d like that.”
We met at a small diner halfway between our neighborhoods. The kind of place that still served coffee in thick mugs and didn’t rush you out the door. When he walked in, he wasn’t wearing a suit this time. Just jeans and a sweater. Ordinary. Grounded.
We talked easily, about work, about the town, about how strange it feels when routines change after someone is gone. He never tried to take on a role he hadn’t been asked to fill. He listened, the way my mother always had.
At one point, I asked him what it had been like, all those years ago, when she first started bringing him food.
“She gave me dignity,” he said simply. “She didn’t act like she was saving me. She acted like she was sharing.”
Over the next few months, our conversations continued. Not constantly. Not out of obligation. Just when it felt natural. Sometimes we talked about my mother. Sometimes we didn’t. And that was okay too.
Spring arrived slowly. The days grew longer. The sharp edge of grief softened, though it never disappeared entirely. It simply learned how to sit quietly alongside everything else.
One afternoon, I drove past the old laundromat without really thinking about it. The sign still buzzed. The windows still glowed. But something else stood out.
A small plaque had been added near the door. It listed local resources. Shelters. Counseling services. Job assistance. Someone had taken the time to make help visible.
I smiled. I knew exactly who had done that.
Later that evening, I called Eli. “Did you put that up?”
He laughed softly. “I thought she’d approve.”
