room change when she entered.
She would stay for a few seconds.
Then leave.
She did that for years.
I think about it often now.
She could work two jobs, come home barely able to stand, and still need to see that I was safe before she allowed herself to rest.
That was Patricia Reyes.
She is fifty-nine now.
She has worked at the same accounting firm for twenty-two years, though she’s no longer answering phones.
She manages the accounts of small businesses.
She’s excellent at it.
She owns her
