On Choosing the Perfect Peach Dress

An Impossible Task Filled with Love

Michael faces an empty house full of countless memories close to his heart.
Struggling to find the perfect touch for his beloved Auntie Ellen’s farewell.
How will he choose the best way to send her off in style, and with love?

Originally appeared in Sylvia Magazine, www.SylviaMagazine.com, 2021

Also available in the collection Passages in the Real World

An excerpt from On Choosing the Perfect Peach Dress:
A choice too big for a broken heart

"Peach, peach," he said under his breath, not sure why he was worried about the empty house hearing his shaky voice. "Peeeeeeeach. A simple peach dress."

Maybe if he said it enough he'd find a way around the giant roadblock in his mind, in his heart. The one that kept reminding him that no matter which dress he chose, it would be the last one she ever wore.

He was perilously close to fifty himself, and felt stable and sane most days. He didn't exactly need his auntie to wipe his little boy tears when he escaped from his stern parents, all too often confused by their overly sensitive youngest son. Or from the school and church that were determined to shove him into the correct social and career box, no matter badly his misfit edges pinched and scraped.

But the reality of the loss of one of the most important people in his life still clenched up his chest and made his throat ache.