THE EMPTY HOOK IN THE HALLWAY

Dear Delyara, My husband left three months ago, but his heavy winter coat is still hanging on the hook next to the front door. Every single morning when I leave for work, my shoulder brushes against the rough wool, and for a split second, my brain tricks me into thinking he’s standing right behind me, waiting to say goodbye. Tonight, I finally took the coat down to put it in a box. When I lifted it, a small box of mints he bought at the convenience store fell out of the pocket and clattered onto the hardwood floor. I sat down on the floor in my coat and just stared at those mints for two hours. If I throw them away, I am admitting that he is never coming back to finish them. If I keep them, I am a crazy woman hoarding rubbish in an empty flat. I put the coat back on the hook. I am not strong enough to look at an empty wall tomorrow morning.