The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go

by Amy E. Reichert

“No, really. You married the man of your dreams no matter what Mom said. You loved each other to the point of stupid. I can barely imagine the pain you’ve experienced, and I’m sure that still isn’t even close to the reality, but you had perfection once. That’s amazing. I followed the Mom-approved route of marrying for financial security. It’s . . . a less optimal plan.”

“What did you like best about Dad?” Her mom’s face grew distant and her lips eased into a grin. “That’s like asking what I like best about air.” “What a cop-out.” Gina laughed and wiped at her face again. “I suppose it is. I loved his patience. He would spend a day carefully taking apart an engine, laying the pieces in order, then putting them back together, cleaning each part as if it were precious. Or how he spent hours teaching you how to tie your shoes. You knew I would get impatient and do it for you, but he would happily wait a half hour until you did it yourself. “He could always make me laugh, even when I was raging at him. I don’t think he even intended to do it—it was just his instinct to make me happy. This one time, he had left a huge mess in the kitchen after one of his epic experiments and mountains of dirty laundry in the closet, then went out to the garage to spend a day working on an antique bike. I spent an hour scrubbing dried egg and burned cheese off the stove, then stain-treating all the grease stains on his clothes. By the time I was finished, I was tempted to burn it all. I don’t know how he knew—he sensed my moods even before I did sometimes—but when he came back in the house, he