Part Four: The Year We Failed to Notice
During the final eighteen months of Ed’s life, something changed.
At first, the differences seemed small.
He stopped coming to some family dinners. He canceled plans at the last minute. He looked thinner, but whenever I mentioned it, he blamed work.
One afternoon, Lily accidentally referred to a medical appointment.
“How did the appointment go?” I asked him later.
Ed smiled.
“It was routine.”
“What kind of appointment?”
“The kind where a doctor tells you to sleep more and stop eating terrible food.”
I laughed.
“You’ll never follow that advice.”
“Exactly. That’s why there’s no reason to worry.”
He changed the subject so easily that I let him.
At Christmas, he looked exhausted. In one family photograph, his smile appeared strained, but I noticed only months later.
Mom complained that he had become distant.
“Marriage has changed him,” she said.
“He’s busy.”
“He never used to miss important occasions.”
I defended him, but I never asked him what was truly happening.
Neither did Dad.
We all accepted the answer Ed wanted us to believe.
He was fine.
He was tired.
Work was demanding.
He would visit soon.
Behind those excuses, my brother was quietly preparing to die.
