I Pretended to Be an Old Woman's Son at the Nursing Home Because Her Real Family Paid Me – After She Passed Away, the Director Said, 'She Left One Last Request for You'

"She taught me how to stay."

Every Saturday, I drove out to the home. Margaret always saved me a seat by the window, in Rosie's old chair.

One afternoon I brought a small bunch of tulips and laid them across the seat of the chair.

Margaret watched me without speaking, her knitting needles still in her lap.

"She taught me how to stay," I said.

Margaret nodded once, and the sunlight moved slowly across the petals.