Seeing my mom laugh, dress up, and find love again after so many lonely years should have been enough to quiet my doubts.
Instead, one question became louder every time Richard joined us for dinner.
My mom hadn’t hummed in 11 years.
Not since Dad passed away.
Yet there she was one Sunday afternoon, standing before her bedroom mirror and humming an old Sinatra tune as she fastened the pearl earrings Dad had given her for their 30th anniversary.
I leaned against the doorway with my arms crossed, trying not to get emotional.
“Mom, you look beautiful!”
“Oh, stop,” she said, waving me away with a smile. “It’s just dinner, Avery.”
“You’re even wearing the red dress!”
“I’m allowed to wear the red dress.”
“You bought that red dress recently, and it’s already been out of the closet more than my winter coat!”
Mom laughed.
It was such a wonderful sound th
