I thought she was sleeping until I heard her
call out from across the room, “Will you bring
me a glass of water?” I did. Then in her
always-sleepy tone and drawl she said, “Do you
remember when you were a little boy and you
would ask your mama to bring you a glass of
water?” Yeah. “You know how half the time you
weren’t even thirsty. You just wanted that hand
that was attached to that glass that was
attached to that person you just wanted to stay
there until you fell asleep.” She took the glass of
water that I brought her and just sat it down
full on the table next to her. Wow, I thought.
“What am I gonna do with love like this.