Dad’s train came in around 10:30 last night. I took a nap around 9:30 before it was time to pick him up. I was in our room working on the latest paper due tomorrow. My brother was here this weekend with his friends and their families. They spent some time on Saturday putting taps in the maple trees. We seem to always come in on the tail end of the season, but the trees should still have at least another week, maybe two, of sap flow.

We all went together. The kids passed the time by watching a movie. On the way to the train station they asked about stopping somewhere to get ice cream. Ice cream places aren’t open that late, but otherwise I’m sure we would have probably stopped to buy some. The way to the station looks different in the dark, and one of the kids had my maps app pulled up to give me directions. He called right as we were pulling into the station.

I unlocked the back car door. He loaded up his bags as the kids shuffled around to make room for their father. He made his way to the passenger seat and sat down. I didn’t look at him. I held onto to the steering wheel while I stared straight ahead. You have to get to know a person again after a week. You have to trust them again that they’re still the same person, that they haven’t changed or forgotten you while they were away. He hadn’t.