Modern Loss Essay

4 Dec

This is my first piece in Modern Loss. I wrote it in October (also the last time I saw a hummingbird in the yard). Rereading it reminds me that I’ll have something very special to look forward to in spring.

The Hummingbirds Who Lightened My Grief

When my daughter died, I hated the sun for rising without her. I wept as the world turned green and flowers burst open. But the backyard birds were a different story. My 15-year-old daughter wanted to get a hummingbird tattoo before she died, but tattoos are illegal for children under 16 in New York State.