Sometimes Grief Returns When I Least Expect It

Photo by Jacqueline Dooley

I’m standing in Walgreens, my hands full of items meant to ease the discomfort of my daughter, Emily, who is home with a bad cold. I’m clutching a thermometer, a package of Nyquil gelcaps, two different kinds of throat lozenges, and a package of honey-flavored lip balm when the grief hits me.

It’s the lip balm that does it.