The silence of a Toronto winter morning is heavy\u2014the kind that settles over the city after a night of freezing rain, when the snowbanks are crusted with gray and the sky hangs low and metallic. You can hear the hum of the furnace through the walls, the occasional hiss of a passing car on slush, but otherwise the world feels padded, insulated, distant. The silence on the phone, though\u2014my sister\u2019s silence before she spoke\u2014was heavier still.<\/p>\n
I had my coffee mug halfway to my lips when the call came in. The display simply said \u201cGlenda.\u201d No emoji, no exclamation marks like she usually added when she wanted something from me. Just her name, stark and simple against the gray morning light filtering through my kitchen window.<\/p>\n
I pressed accept and held the phone to my ear, already feeling a knot form in my stomach. Glenda never called this early unless something had gone wrong\u2014or she needed something. \u201cShe\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice was flat, practiced, as if she\u2019d been rehearsing those two words during her drive to wherever she was calling from.<\/p>\n
Papers rustled in the background, and I could hear the faint murmur of other voices\u2014an office, maybe, or a lobby. \u201cDiane, did you hear me?\u201d she continued quickly, as if ticking items off a checklist. \u201cMom passed away at four this morning.<\/p>\n
The facility said it was heart failure. Very peaceful. She didn\u2019t suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
For half a second, everything inside me stilled.<\/p>\n
My mind didn\u2019t blank the way people say it does in moments of shock. Instead, it sharpened, like camera lenses snapping into perfect focus. I gripped the edge of the kitchen counter, the cold granite solid beneath my palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeart failure?\u201d I managed. \u201cWhen did they call you? Why didn\u2019t anyone\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Glenda didn\u2019t wait for me to finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already handled the legalities,\u201d she said, her tone shifting into what I recognized as her business voice\u2014brisk, efficient, brooking no questions. \u201cSince I have power of attorney and the updated will Mom signed last month, I\u2019ll be taking over the Richmond Hill property and managing the investment portfolio. There\u2019s a blue envelope in the mail for you.<\/p>\n
Consider it a gift from me. A generous one, actually. Don\u2019t call me\u2014I\u2019m busy with the estate arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n
The way she said it\u2014\u201dI\u2019ll be taking over\u201d\u2014like she was discussing a corporate acquisition rather than our mother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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