I spot it. Resting on the side table next to him. My lips press together as I consider my options – remove myself from the cocoon of comfort I had just settled into or be the first to break the hour-long silence. I look down at myself, my legs curled under me and hidden inside the comfy blanket. A bowl of popcorn resting in my lap. I consider the third option for a moment – that I didn’t need it – but that silly thought passes quickly. Stubbornness and laziness battle it out for a second in my brain until I finally sigh. “Pass me the salt, please,” I…

Shadow lines cut across the unvarnished wooden fence, colored various shades of brown and green by years of neglect. A bird chirped overhead. With faux menace, a carpenter bee buzzed near my face as the clanking sound of a tractor pulling a bush hog and squealing children broke through the sounds of nature. With just enough breeze to comfortably cool the skin, Spring had officially made itself at home. It was my favorite time of the year. Too short. A breath between the frigid subzero temperatures of winter and sweltering heat of summer. It had been years since I last sat on this porch. While its sagging boards and…