Tom stood in front of the IKEA Kitchen-In-A-Box display. He was surrounded by young men furnishing their first college apartment. Some of them were shopping in pairs, some were with their girlfriends. One poor sap was with his Mom. Tom made eye contact with another older guy; tubby, balding. They looked at each other knowingly.
They both grabbed a box from the shelf and dropped it in their respective carts.
Tom was 36. He was missing half of his son’s life.
Three weeks ago he was standing in the middle of his half-empty house trying to figure out where to begin packing. His wife had taken what she wanted and left the rest for him. He stepped out into the back yard and walked around. He was avoiding being inside. Kicking at the dirt he thought of the small garden she’d tried planting the year before. There was moderate luck with some tomatoes.
Three weeks ago Tom stood in the middle of what was left of that garden and honestly didn’t see himself standing in front of the IKEA Kitchen-In-A-Box display three weeks later.
He honestly didn’t.