Evensong

“Something's your vocation if it keeps making more of you.”

IfsVocation

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“On the table in the center of the room stood a fake Christmas tree, and as she chose a seat in the corner so she could plug in her phone, she remembered it was Maggie Woodwell who'd hoped Ned would make it through Christmas for the sake of their kids. She didn't want his passing to ruin the holiday forever, a fear Kitzi understood, but, cruel as it was, maybe because she'd almost lost Martin, she'd come to accept that death shadowed every day. She'd once thought she'd never get used to it, yet how many times had she waited like this while her friends said their final goodbyes? It was her specialty, it seemed.”

DeathWaitingDyingHospitalsGoodbyesVigils

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“When someone has enough money, logistics can be worked out in no time.”

WealthConvenience

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“Domine ad adjuvandum me festina, they sang. O Lord, make haste to save me. It was true, they felt that urgency now, the need to finally make things right, or as right as they could be. They had only so much time.”

GodTimeSingingAgingOld AgeUrgencyCorrectionsImprovements

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“They all had their losses, and if time made them easier to bear, the dead were also more remote and harder to recall, a silent slideshow of old memories unchanging as the past.”

PastDeathMemoriesLossGriefHistoryMourningLoved OnesRemembranceRemembering

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“Alone again, with the house quiet around her, she thought not of Joan in her hospital gown but of Henry, the IVs taped to the bruised crook of his arm, how he'd asked her to take care of Arlene and not give up on their daughter Margaret, demands that even now seemed unfair, if not impossible. What would she ask, and of whom--God? There was no one else left.”

DeathLossWidowsPromisesSurvivorshipLast Wishes

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“The accusation rankled. She would never cheat. He and his fellow Fox News zombies were the cheaters, gerrymandering districts and fixing the Supreme Court to do the bidding of the minority, storming the Capitol when they lost. She took pride in treating everyone who voted--Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, or Independent--equally. She cared about fairness and representation. He didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was winning. Now she did too, viciously, and it felt like a loss.”

PoliticsWinningTrumpLosingVotingFairnessPolitical PartiesElectionsMagaPoll Workers

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“As much as Susie wished it otherwise, her worries were familiar. She liked to believe they were both liberated, independent women. Then why weren't they stronger? Why was their happiness always at the mercy of others?”

HappinessWomenRelationshipsStrengthIndependenceWorriesLiberated Women

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“I think it's ageist," Emily said. "Is Joe Biden too old to be president?" "That would be a valid question if he'd run against anyone but Trump," Kitzi said, cutting the deck for her. "Amen," Susie said.”

AgePoliticsOld AgeDonald TrumpPublic OfficeAgeismPresidentsSeniorsJoe Biden

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“He was breathing on his own and his red blood cell count was almost normal (not the white), that was it. Kitzi could see she wanted to believe this might make a difference and didn't contradict her. She knew from experience how tightly you clung to the smallest scrap of hope.”

HopeRelationshipsIllnessSicknessHospitalization

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“No one spoke, each of them reflecting on their dead and the intractability of the past. That was the problem with getting old, Emily thought. After a point you outlived everyone who truly knew you. There was no one left to remember her aunt June. Soon there would be no one who knew Henry.”

DeathRelationshipsLossAgingOld AgeDeadRemembranceRememberingKnowing Someone

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“On principle, she believed that anyone who really wanted to know her should be willing to do some work.”

SelfRelationshipsFriendshipKnowledgeComplexityCompanionship

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“In frustration she sometimes asked him what he would do if she died first, to which he smugly replied, "You won't," as if it were a joke instead of her worst fear.”

DeathRelationshipsLossWidowsSpousesMarriagesWidowhoodWidowers

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“No one told her Trader Joe's sold Advent calendars for cats. She found out on her own, rolling her card down the pet food aisle. She saw the bingo-like jumble of numbers on the box and stopped, her face betraying first confusion and concern and then honest astonishment. The picture on the front was a Christmas tree of cats. Behind each cardboard door waited salmon and dried seaweed treats in holiday shapes. It made absolutely no sense, and she knew she had to buy one for Oscar.”

TreatsConsumerismCatsAdventPetsAdvent CalendarsTrader Joe S

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