we came, to see them—my family I hadn’t seen in years—oceans between us; there was Covid and lockdowns and life I suppose; time flew as we joked and cried and fell silent—maelstroms of memories spilling around the table, echoing cache of lives lived and lives ended, pocketed moments protruding through the haze of our brittle recollections—remember how we laughed at our Grandma’s funeral, my cousin said, emotions taking over and we couldn’t stop; it was like she was there, a h