After Dad died, I organized his stuff. When I cleaned out his bathroom I found the dental floss he was using when he died. It was pretty new.

So, I kept it and used it up. I allowed myself to believe using the floss gave me a special connection to him that would help establish our post-death relationship. It must have been brand new because it lasted a really long time.

It was a way to pace my grief.

After it was empty, I kept it in a wooden bowl with some other sacred-to-me items. But when I unpacked after moving last year, it didn’t feel right to put it back there.

The way the dead are with me changes just like when they were alive.