She stared at the water as if the rest of the world had just fallen away and there was not another thing to look at but this. She didn’t know what exactly it was that entranced her so, but it was always where she wanted to be when the hurt came. Some had getaways off in the mountains, some had a large circle of friends, some had church, but this—this was her sanctuary.

The sound of the gentle laps of expansion and retreat had seen her heart break over middle school boyfriends. The shimmer of the fluid meeting of earth and sky had seen her break over the divorce. The easy balance of the water that rocked her into unimaginable peacefulness had seen everything break when she lost her mother. And now still, during another moment of which she had no control, she laid here beside the beauty of this creation that eased her worries, and she knew now this would always be home.

She heard them say they didn’t understand why she chose here instead of something more sensible. That was okay—she was the only one who needed to understand this connection to the comforting water that always understood her.

She looked over with a pang of sadness as she watched her daughter walk away. She looked so beautiful in all black. Maybe someday her daughter would sit here on this bench beside her and understand what she already did, here you really can rest in peace.