20 Comments
User's avatar
Amie McGraham's avatar

This left me aching at the loss of someone I do not even know. The tenderness in every word and action.

Deborah Way's avatar

💓💓💓 c

Sherri Alms's avatar

Such a heart-rending beautifully written essay

Deborah Way's avatar

thank you for reading 💓

Victoria Veldhoen's avatar

"By dinnertime, we were boneless" - a beautiful line. I'm so sorry for the tragic loss of Alex and the life you dreamed of together. Even though you have a beautiful life now, you will carry that for the rest of your life. Thinking of you, Alex, and his family, with love.

Deborah Way's avatar

yes, the compounding loss of Alex and the dreamed-of life 💔

Chris J. Rice's avatar

“Content to just exist beautifully” that phrase caught in my throat as I read this supremely intelligent story about love and the cutting off of possibility. Thank you.

Deborah Way's avatar

❤️❤️❤️

Eileen Vorbach Collins's avatar

Here I sit, weeping into my coffee. Aching for Jamie, for Alex, for all four of their parents, and for the world. But I smile thinking of the man Jamie married sharpening that knife. Just as I smile when I scrub the very old pot that my husband's first beloved kept shined. A gem.

Casey Mulligan Walsh's avatar

You’re wrecking me over here. Wiping tears on the plane. Devastatingly beautiful. Brutiful. ❤️‍🩹

Deborah Way's avatar

I love this ❤️

Aimee Liu's avatar

Beyond gorgeous! Every word pounding with love and clarity.

I'm so proud to call Jaimie my friend and former student. I've learned the world from her!

Joanne Hollidge's avatar

No words, just tears 💔

Cindy Eastman's avatar

Each of these keepthings has its own poignancy and this one is no different. The writing felt like the words were being shaved off to the page by the Victorinox itself. Gorgeous. And so very sad. I'm sorry for your loss.

Mjb Fresh's avatar

Beautiful, sad. The knife sure beats ashes! Got me thinking now...about deep felt sense objects after deep loss!

Sharon Senkiew's avatar

Beautiful essay. Thank you for sharing your story of Alex.

M. Tonita Austin's avatar

Beautiful love story. I felt the weight of the unspoken guilt.

Sara Pam Neufeld's avatar

Gulp. What a heart-wrenching, beautifully told story. So few words made me feel so much.

Jocelyn Jane Cox's avatar

Utterly gorgeous. So heartbreaking. Beautifully told.

User's avatar
Comment removed
Nov 13, 2025
Comment removed
Deborah Way's avatar

thank you for reading 💓