Anyway, she asked me to help her write those four names. I remember that she absolutely insisted on using a ballpoint pen. She wanted to be sure the ink wouldn’t fade or run. And then she said to me, ‘When I go to live with my daughter, I want you to send me this postcard. Promise?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I promise.’ I took the postcard home with me and put it away with my personal papers.” “And then?” “She never went to live with your mother as she’d hoped to. She passed away here in Céreste. I’d forgotten all about the postcard, to be honest. It just stayed there, filed away with my papers.
