After Bibi left, my mom took a little time off from work.
"We'll get through this together," she said.
But there were lots of things we could not do.
We could not call Bibi,
because she was away,
at the hospital,
taking care of her sick father.
We could not call Grandma Sadie, either.
Because Grandma Sadie
would ask me about Bibi.
We could not go to Roma Pizza.
Because Bibi loved Roma Pizza.
So Roma Pizza reminded me of Bibi.
We could not ride my bike.
Because Bibi helped pick out my bike.
So my bike reminded me of Bibi.
We could not go swimming at the gym.
Because Bibi was scared of swimming.
So swimming reminded me of Bibi.
Sometimes
after I told my mom what we could not do
she would ask,
"Is there anything that we can do?"
So I would let her read to me.
And bake cookies with me.
And take me to the Flatbush Avenue diner.
Because I didn't want her to get too cranky.