Reason and Rhyme Reason and Rhyme_2018SP | Page 13

I took a deep breath and looked around the crowded room. It felt like a long time coming to finally be
getting this interview and possibly be working at this firm. I scanned the room for a clock, for future
reference. There was a small digital one on the other side of the receptionist desk, so small I couldn’t see
it, even when I squinted. Glancing at my watch, I quickly noticed the importance of the date that had been
so delicately placed just between the nine and the three.
Friday, March 8.
It then hit me that today marked five years since my Mom died. It seems like that would be
something you wouldn’t forget to remember, but as insane as my life I had been lately, I am surprised that
dates were something I even managed to keep up with anymore.
The details of everything surrounding the day of her funeral were something I would not and
could not ever forget.
~
I straightened my tie, put on my blazer, and buttoned the top button. I went over my shoulders
with the lint roller twice, just to be sure. With a quick look in the bathroom mirror to make sure I looked
presentable for this occasion. I walked into the crowded sanctuary of my Mom’s big church. My family
and her many of her closest friends were gathered there. She had loved it when I dressed “in my Sunday
best”. I was wearing the last suit I knew she had picked out for me. It was a bit plain for my taste, but she
liked simple things. My blonde hair had always been too curly to contain, so I let it go free. She had liked
it better that way, anyways. Sleep had been practically unachievable since I had gotten the phone call
exactly a week before. Last Tuesday seemed like ages ago.
Everything had been quiet in the office on the day I found out that she was gone. There was
nothing exciting happening. It was March. The busiest season of the year was behind us. Although, I’m
not sure I would have known if there was anything going on anyways. I was focused on much more than
this office job. There were too many people absent for the gossip to be raging through the cubicles and
12