The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

by Joe Siple

don’t tell him it’s because Jenny’s gone but her memory is here, all over this place. That if the house is gone, then her past, her history, all the memories we shared, they’d be gone too. It’d be like she never existed, except in my mind,

Never believe anyone who says old people don’t know how to love each other just because their bodies are worn out and they bicker now and again. The way I see it, love’s just getting going after fifty years.

B, K,” Tiegan says. “Strong, brave, and kind. It’s kind of our motto now, mom says. And we say it to each other all the time.”

You’ll have plenty of time to be dead, Murray. But this is the only time you have to live. Don’t throw that gift away.”

But now I see it. It’s because there are two hearts in each of us. The one that shows what we’re made of. How much we love and how well we live. Jason’s got more of that heart than anyone I’ve ever met, along with maybe Tiegan. But there’s also the physical heart. The one that only has one job—to push blood through our bodies and keep us alive.