Two Portlands

Maybe she'll go to Portland—the one on the east coast. She could take over her mother's mill, fly all over the world and write novels from hotel rooms and airport lounges.

Or maybe she'll go to the other Portland—the one on the west coast, where she left a little skin and blood on the road. She found a lot of kindness there.

It's hard not to think about those places as places I would've gone, too. And hard to think about what it'll feel like when the leaves die out this Fall and the view of the apartment she'll leave behind her is cleared.