I spot my mother’s brother, Uncle Jakob, who came all the way from Östersund, a man whose quiet intensity, whose daily ritual of sitting outside early in the morning, drinking coffee, and sketching the view, I’ve recognized in myself. A man who I thought would respect a person’s choice for a solitary life if they decided that was for the best. And then he left me a shocking amount of money with the condition that I had to be married. It felt like being slapped.
