{"id":21204,"date":"2026-09-26T14:47:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=21204"},"modified":"2026-09-26T14:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T14:47:00","slug":"part-21-once-we-chose-oregon-the-practical-work-began-and-the-first-goodbye-revealed-which-part-of-leaving-would-hurt-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=21204","title":{"rendered":"PART 21 \u2013 Once We Chose Oregon, the Practical Work Began, and the First Goodbye Revealed Which Part of Leaving Would Hurt Most"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first week after deciding felt strangely anticlimactic.<\/p>\n<p>For months, Oregon had existed as a question large enough to occupy every room in our house.<\/p>\n<p>Then we answered it.<\/p>\n<p>And Monday morning still came.<\/p>\n<p>Olive still complained about getting dressed.<\/p>\n<p>I still had invoices waiting.<\/p>\n<p>Ben still had patients.<\/p>\n<p>The refrigerator still contained a container of strawberries nobody remembered buying.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing outside us seemed impressed by the fact that we had made one of the largest decisions of our marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Ben submitted his resignation Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>He showed me the final letter before sending it, not because I needed to approve it but because we had agreed that major changes would be visible.<\/p>\n<p>His last full clinical month would be June.<\/p>\n<p>After that, he would remain available for limited follow-up while another surgeon assumed responsibility for several longer-term patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you ready?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you still want to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen send it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>For almost a minute, he stared at the confirmation on his screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I\u2019d feel more dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike I sent an email.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is technically what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelpful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>His department chair called within twenty minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Then hospital administration.<\/p>\n<p>Then Arnold.<\/p>\n<p>Arnold\u2019s call lasted longest.<\/p>\n<p>Ben left the kitchen and walked onto the back porch.<\/p>\n<p>Through the window, I watched him pace.<\/p>\n<p>At one point he laughed.<\/p>\n<p>A few minutes later he wiped his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>I looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Some goodbyes belonged to other relationships.<\/p>\n<p>When he came back in, his expression was composed but softer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArnold?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did he take it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called me an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSounds supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen he said he was proud of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems more useful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben sat at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s angry I\u2019m leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat can coexist with being proud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll miss you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I poured coffee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWill he visit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he\u2019ll never willingly enter Oregon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour mother and Arnold should start a club.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Then his phone buzzed again.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree people from the department asking whether I\u2019m serious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He typed something.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s strange how many people are suddenly telling me they\u2019ve thought about leaving too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That caught my attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of your resignation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe because one person actually did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about Lena.<\/p>\n<p>Control.<\/p>\n<p>Partnership.<\/p>\n<p>The way one person choosing differently could expose how many others were enduring something by habit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe careful,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t become responsible for everyone else leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He gave me a look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSlowly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPainfully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That had become ours.<\/p>\n<p>Across town, my own changes moved faster than expected.<\/p>\n<p>Lena and I signed preliminary partnership documents Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Not final closing papers yet.<\/p>\n<p>But enough to make the future real.<\/p>\n<p>I expected handing over authority to feel liberating.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I spent the first afternoon correcting a vendor contract Lena had already approved.<\/p>\n<p>She entered my office without knocking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you change the cancellation clause?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was weak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI negotiated it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI improved it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou overrode me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds accusatory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the page.<\/p>\n<p>She waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m still legally responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo am I now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot fully yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChelsea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated the way everyone had learned to say my name when I was being unreasonable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re doing this, you have to let me do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She tapped the contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re letting me hold the steering wheel while keeping your hand on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The metaphor irritated me because it was accurate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if something goes wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen I deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if you deal with it badly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we learn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is an irresponsible business strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Expecting perfection before delegation is an impossible one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t like this version of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou created her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI regret everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Then she pushed the original contract toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy clause stands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at it.<\/p>\n<p>The old reflex told me to argue.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I signed.<\/p>\n<p>Lena\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI expected more bloodshed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She took the contract.<\/p>\n<p>As she reached the door, I said, \u201cIf this goes wrong, I\u2019m reminding you forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s within your authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Progress.<\/p>\n<p>At home, we began preparing for a move without touching the house.<\/p>\n<p>That created an unexpectedly strange problem.<\/p>\n<p>Normally, moving meant sorting everything into keep, donate, sell.<\/p>\n<p>We were keeping the house.<\/p>\n<p>So every object became a question.<\/p>\n<p>Take?<\/p>\n<p>Leave?<\/p>\n<p>Duplicate?<\/p>\n<p>Temporarily forget?<\/p>\n<p>Olive approached the process with the seriousness of a museum curator.<\/p>\n<p>Her stuffed animals were divided into three categories.<\/p>\n<p>Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>Grandma.<\/p>\n<p>Ben watched her arrange them across her bedroom floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does Grandma get six bears?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey like her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She held up the beaver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOregon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then she grabbed a worn rabbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was born here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Ben.<\/p>\n<p>He nodded as though this logic were flawless.<\/p>\n<p>The crooked ceiling stars remained nonnegotiable.<\/p>\n<p>We ordered a second set for the Oregon bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot the same,\u201d Olive warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not replacing them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She seemed satisfied.<\/p>\n<p>The first real goodbye came earlier than I expected.<\/p>\n<p>Not to family.<\/p>\n<p>Not to school.<\/p>\n<p>To Ben\u2019s patient.<\/p>\n<p>I learned about it only because he came home one Thursday looking as though something had physically struck him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He put his keys down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Progress, again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of my long-term patients came in today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBad news?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe heard I was leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stayed quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Ben removed his jacket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve operated on her three times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I knew immediately who he meant.<\/p>\n<p>Marjorie.<\/p>\n<p>I had never met her, but I knew pieces of her story.<\/p>\n<p>Cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Complications.<\/p>\n<p>Another surgery.<\/p>\n<p>Recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Ben had once missed our dinner reservation because Marjorie developed a postoperative bleed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe brought me cookies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe cried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice tightened.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped smiling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said I saved her life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I didn\u2019t know what to do with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve heard that before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said she understood why I was leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me doctors aren\u2019t machines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarjorie sounds perceptive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said I looked tired the last time she saw me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJanuary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He rubbed his palms together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood what he meant.<\/p>\n<p>Patients had noticed.<\/p>\n<p>Not just Arnold.<\/p>\n<p>Not just me.<\/p>\n<p>Not just Olive.<\/p>\n<p>Even people who saw Ben for thirty minutes at a time had recognized something he had been trying to normalize.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told her she\u2019d be in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what she was talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thanked her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then I went into a supply closet and cried like an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is an oddly specific location.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was available.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat beside him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did that goodbye hit you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause this hospital isn\u2019t only the thing that hurt me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt gave you something too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt trained me. Arnold is there. Half the people I know professionally are there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had some of the best days of my life in that building.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatients I thought wouldn\u2019t live walked out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I took his hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you\u2019re allowed to miss that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel disloyal leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>Then he said, \u201cI also feel disloyal being relieved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s familiar too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We sat together.<\/p>\n<p>No fixing.<\/p>\n<p>Just contradictory feelings.<\/p>\n<p>Our counseling sessions had begun changing shape.<\/p>\n<p>At first, every appointment returned to Ben\u2019s secrecy.<\/p>\n<p>Now Nina pushed us toward the move itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you imagine will happen to your marriage after relocation?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>I answered first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll be stressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOptimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019ll have more time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo do what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He paused.<\/p>\n<p>That question surprised him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not an activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Nina turned to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want that time to contain?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDinner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWeekends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat last one may be hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause people who have built identities around productivity often become uncomfortable when there is empty space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That described both of us.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Ben.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe might hate each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nina did not laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you\u2019ll learn whether you like each other without crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was more frightening than it should have been.<\/p>\n<p>For years, our marriage had operated through tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Schedules.<\/p>\n<p>Illnesses.<\/p>\n<p>Work problems.<\/p>\n<p>Parenting logistics.<\/p>\n<p>We knew how to be a team in motion.<\/p>\n<p>Stillness was less practiced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHomework?\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n<p>Nina almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sound eager.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve become institutionalized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake one Saturday before the move and do nothing productive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I recoiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo packing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben looked alarmed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo household projects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben and I looked at each other.<\/p>\n<p>Nina continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpend the day together as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo errands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo phones except necessary calls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben looked offended.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked, \u201cWhat if we want to go somewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we plan it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis sounds dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExactly why you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That Saturday, we attempted it.<\/p>\n<p>At eight in the morning, Ben tried to repair a loose cabinet hinge.<\/p>\n<p>I confiscated the screwdriver.<\/p>\n<p>At nine, I answered an email.<\/p>\n<p>He took my phone.<\/p>\n<p>By ten, we were both irritable.<\/p>\n<p>Olive thought this was hilarious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are we doing?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At eleven, she suggested the park.<\/p>\n<p>We went.<\/p>\n<p>No soccer schedule.<\/p>\n<p>No hospital event.<\/p>\n<p>No real estate tour.<\/p>\n<p>Just the park we had visited hundreds of times.<\/p>\n<p>Olive climbed.<\/p>\n<p>Ben and I sat on a bench.<\/p>\n<p>At first we talked about the move.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>We talked about a terrible movie.<\/p>\n<p>Arnold.<\/p>\n<p>My sister.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the park\u2019s geese had become unusually aggressive.<\/p>\n<p>By afternoon, the day stopped feeling empty.<\/p>\n<p>It just felt slow.<\/p>\n<p>We bought ice cream.<\/p>\n<p>Olive got chocolate on her shirt.<\/p>\n<p>Ben didn\u2019t check his phone for almost three hours.<\/p>\n<p>I did not think about Carter for two.<\/p>\n<p>That evening we sat in the backyard.<\/p>\n<p>The light changed through the trees.<\/p>\n<p>Olive chased fireflies.<\/p>\n<p>Ben watched her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what I\u2019m afraid of losing,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Olive ran toward us with both hands cupped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Inside her palms, a firefly blinked.<\/p>\n<p>She opened her fingers and let it go.<\/p>\n<p>It disappeared toward the fence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo they have fireflies in Oregon?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>Ben looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olive frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat should\u2019ve been part of the research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She ran off again.<\/p>\n<p>Ben leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love this place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still want to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I rested my head against his shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>The decision did not require us to stop loving what we were leaving.<\/p>\n<p>That might have been the hardest thing to accept.<\/p>\n<p>A few days later, Olive brought home an envelope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom Maya.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked embarrassed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan I open it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>That night, after bedtime, I found her sitting on the floor surrounded by photographs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaking a Pennsylvania box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat beside her.<\/p>\n<p>Inside the box were ticket stubs, school pictures, a bracelet Maya had made, a leaf pressed between paper, and a tiny stone from my father\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n<p>I recognized it immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrandma gave it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I touched it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said Grandpa liked that tree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He had.<\/p>\n<p>Olive looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you sad?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause we\u2019re going?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sad too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She leaned against me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we be sad and still go?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question was so simple I nearly cried.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we just are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Then she placed the stone inside the box.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom, she had written in marker:<\/p>\n<p>THINGS THAT STILL BELONG TO ME EVEN WHEN I\u2019M FAR AWAY.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at those words for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Leaving was beginning.<\/p>\n<p>Not with the airplane.<\/p>\n<p>Not with the moving truck.<\/p>\n<p>With the first moment we understood that love and distance could exist at the same time.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=21205\">Click here to continue reading: PART 22: Ben\u2019s Final Weeks at the Hospital Brought One Last Temptation to Stay, and This Time He Put the Choice in Front of Me First<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first week after deciding felt strangely anticlimactic. For months, Oregon had existed as a question large enough to occupy every room in our house. Then we answered it. 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