true story

Saturday, March 19th, was the 11th anniversary of my sister Kate's death. On Sunday the 20th, Emily, my colleague Kerry and I were sitting in a bar in the jungle of Tortaguerro, drinking Coronas with lime and salt when a song came on the stereo. It was a Spanish song I know only from a tape of Kate's which we found in her stereo after she died. I don't know the song or the singer, but there it was: in the far jungle, in the far years since she died, my sister's presence. Emily and I smiled and toasted Kate. Even Kerry, who is a new friend, was moved. We felt sad and very pleased all at once. Nothing about that place was familiar and yet. Yet.

And so: endurance. Continuance. Kate would be pleased with this adventure I'm having, I think. An unlikely Cullen adventure, but a likely Kate adventure.

So here's to you, Kate Bailey, wherever you are in this miraculous universe. At least you are here, in me, to this very day.