I wish I had known to slow down.
By the time all the magazines told us
about family togetherness,

it seemed like it was too late—Ralph
taller than I was. So I just kept going:
meals on the table, safety, an extra

quarter with his milk money so he could
buy the cookies they made at school.
It was enough, I thought. And wasn’t it?

A lot of those together families ended up
broken, I know, but we stayed together.
Still, I wish I had asked, that day, why

Ralph tried to run away. Do you suppose
I still could ask? I still love him.
That much, I do know.