The Things We Kept

They photographed the papers and divided the tools without finishing the argument about their father's character. Nobody needed the same answer anymore.

Nora kept the original university list. Imad kept the drawer handle, which he fitted to a cabinet he was building. Sal kept an unfinished notebook with several blank pages.

Months later, Nora visited Sal's apartment. On the refrigerator was a shopping list with her name at the top. Beneath it he had written: Tea. The good olives. Ask about the painting.

She recognized the effort before she recognized the joke. They made dinner slowly. At the end of the evening, she did not feel that the old apartment had vanished completely. Some things could be kept without filling a room with boxes.