Father's Day

She sat on the chilly sand, feeling the cool coming through the seat of her jeans almost immediately.  She thought back to that other beach on another day, a warmer, sunnier day than this.  She remembered him showing her how to hold the shell to her ear to always hear the sea.  She brushed away one hot little tear with her thumb, took a deep breath and looked west up the beach.  An elderly pair of beachcombers in hoodies but barefoot walked along the high tide line, looking down and holding hands.  She thought of her own mom, probably in front of the television right now, eating a Lean Cuisine dinner to the accompanying sounds of Wheel of Fortune.  Why do some people die before they should, but others go on and on?  How are these things decided, or is it just all a random throw of the dice?  If her mother had known how it would end, would she still have married him, knowing she'd spend her last twenty-five years alone?  If she herself had known would she have loved him so hard, or would she have held back her heart so his leaving too early wouldn't hurt so much?  Questions people have asked all through time.  She smiled at the elderly couple as they passed her and then she watched them walk east, the shore birds playing tag with the tide.