I nodded, unable to say anything more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that you were looking for this, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes locked on the familiar Spider-Man fabric.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean by that?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hugged it even tighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cRandy told me to hold onto it; he was my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is your name, darling?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSarah.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked her softly to come in, and she took a moment but finally came into the kitchen with the bag, as if it were something precious that she carried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t stolen it,\u201d she said hastily.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was protecting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It felt like my heart was being shattered by those words.<\/p>\n
Sarah put the bag on the kitchen table with both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
My fingers shook as I slowly unzipped it.<\/p>\n
Inside were balls of lavender and white yarn, knitting needles, and folds of tissue paper enclosing something soft.<\/p>\n
I delicately removed the object from inside.<\/p>\n
It was a handmade unicorn.<\/p>\n
At least that\u2019s what it was intended to be; one leg was still missing, its body had a strange tilt, and the horn appeared lopsided.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was Randy\u2019s gift for you,\u201d said Sarah hastily. \u201cFrom craft class.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the awkward-looking unicorn in shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would he make a unicorn?\u201d I whispered. \u201cRandy adored dinosaurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah dabbed her nose with her sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said that you liked them,\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n
The pain in my chest came immediately.<\/p>\n
Several months ago, I had made a joke about loving unicorns and sipping coffee from an ancient unicorn cup.<\/p>\n
That he had remembered such a thing stunned me.<\/p>\n
Underneath the yarn was a folded Mother\u2019s Day card written in my son\u2019s messy handwriting.<\/p>\n