VICENTISM

My son turned 24 today, and for the first time in a long time, I did not celebrate his birthday without him. I need you to understand what a strange sentence that is for me to type. There was a time when Vicente came to his own birthday parties. SpongeBob cake, a piñata, a kid who hadn't yet been handed the keys to his own life and didn't know he could refuse. Vicente showed up because showing up was still someone else's decision. He didn't know he had a choice. Then he got o

I can hear Vicente pacing in the kitchen. Back and forth. Back and forth. I'm in bed, pretending to be asleep, but really I'm just counting his steps. It's 10:50 pm, and his dentist appointment is at 8 tomorrow morning. This is how it always goes. A week before any appointment, I remind him. Five days later, I remind him again. The morning of, I'll remind him one more time. Then I set my alarm for 5 am because Vicente needs exactly two and a half hours to prepare himself for