I have no memories strong enough to overcome the finality of death. As I leave the cemetery, I continue my struggle to recall his likeness. Nothing, my mind is still blank. Give it time. It s still too soon.
Weeks pass, still nothing comes to mind.
Please, Erik, forgive me for forgetting you. I tell him as I stop at his grave to leave flowers, hoping they will make up for my lapsed memory. I feel guilty for leaving to attend summer camp on the lake. For five days I will not be able to carry out my self-prescribed punishment. Yet, as I sit by the headstone in which his name is inscribed, something deep inside tells me I need to go.