Then she remembered the couple walking in the rain.
She typed:
“Yes. I’d love to.”
That weekend, Emma went to her mother’s house.
Nothing special had been planned.
There was no celebration.
Her mother cooked one of Emma’s favorite meals, and they spent the evening talking at the kitchen table.
They talked about old family stories.
They laughed about embarrassing memories.
They looked through photographs.
At one point, Emma’s mother showed her an old picture of Emma as a child.
Emma laughed.
“I can’t believe you still have that.”
“Of course I do,” her mother replied.
Emma looked at the photograph for a long moment.
She realized something.
She had spent so much time worrying about the future that she had forgotten to notice the life she was already living.
The next morning, Emma woke up earlier than usual.
Instead of immediately checking her phone, she opened the curtains.
