I kissed my wife’s cold forehead inside the coffin… and when I opened her closed hand, I found a navy blue button ripped off. I recognized it instantly: it was from my brother Rodrigo’s jacket.

It was an order.

I looked at her across the coffin. Funeralplanning services

“She is my wife.”

“There is nothing you can do for her now, Julian.”

Her coldness cut through my grief and left something sharper behind. My mother had always thought I was weak. She said I felt too much, that my brother Rodrigo had the kind of strength needed to lead a family like ours.