The Look on Her Face

By Jacob H.W. Wolf

I was twenty, away that summer, working as the drama counselor at a boys' camp in the Berkshires. At night I would steal a canoe from the dock and paddle across the lake to meet my sweetheart. We would build a fire, roast hot dogs, and neck.

I met a fine young man, a counselor. We became good friends. I was having such a wonderful time. I did something I'm ashamed to admit. I did not write to a loving woman, my mother.

The season ended. I returned home to find that my mother was in the hospital. She had a broken leg caused by bone cancer. I went to the hospital to visit her and saw on her face a look I had never seen before.