A Piece of the World

by Christina Baker Kline

I know how the death of a parent can be both a release and a reckoning.

I know I’m being unkind, but I can’t help myself. And I don’t regret it when I see the hurt look on her face. My heart is shattered, and all that’s left are jagged shards.

And if I’m honest, there’s something else. Gertrude has become a stand-in for anyone who ever pitied me, didn’t try to understand me, abandoned me. She gives my bitterness a place to dwell.

The older I get, the more I believe that the greatest kindness is acceptance.

What she wants most—what she truly yearns for—is what any of us want: to be seen. And look. She is.