Voices
the alarm is set to radio, therefore he’s dead and time is linear
after all.
Your mind veers toward the
surreal these days. This person
who was Here is Gone, and it’s
not much of a leap to think other
seemingly impossible things may
occur. But there’s no time to
delve into that, the dogs need to
get outside; you’ve got to be at
work at 8:15.
Stumble into your sweats
and take the dogs around the
block. Or let them take you.
They are big and unruly, and
they were your husband’s — you
only agreed to let him get them
because he promised that you
could be the fun parent.
At home, it’s a quick shower,
go-to clothes, and breakfast.
You’ve forgotten to buy dog food
again, so it’s Grape-Nuts for the
three of you.
Suddenly, everyone’s oldfashioned. You’re 29, and most of
your friends aren’t married. You’d
never been interested in marriage
in the abstract, but you’d fallen in
love young, and stayed that way,
and decided to make it official.
Being married hadn’t changed
things much, until now, when
it’s not only that this person you
ELIZABETH
SCARBORO
HUFFINGTON
02.16.14
loved is dead, but that your husband is dead, which registers to
the world differently. Meaning,
it might as well be 1950, the way
people worry for your future.
Your next door neighbor Rivka,
who, to be fair, is 70, but who is
also a staunch feminist, wants
you settled. It’s been less than a
month but she’s trying to marry
you off to her caregiver Mark.
“He can take you on drives in the
Your mind veers toward
the surreal these days. This
person who was Here is Gone,
and it’s not much of a leap
to think other seemingly
impossible things may occur.”
country,” she says. Mark, who
sells T-shirts out of his van, shifts
uncomfortably. You’re all out on
the sidewalk, squinting in the
morning sun. Rivka leans in close.
“A young widow quickly becomes
an old widow,” she says.
There’s Rivka, and then there
are the 12-year-olds at school.
Teaching used to wear you out,
and now it’s the daily seven-hour
vacation from your life. You stumble toward the building with your