Frank and I had saved for that Mediterranean cruise for 32 years, placing $100 at a time into a dented blue cookie tin marked “Our Big Adventure.” But life kept taking the money back—the furnace failed, our son Daniel needed tuition, my mother required care, and Frank underwent heart surgery. Twenty-five years earlier, Frank had also emptied the tin to help his brother’s failing hardware store, despite my objections. The $18,000 was never returned, and his family called me selfish for being angry. Nine months before our long-delayed departure, doctors found pancreatic cancer. Frank was gone 11 weeks later, leaving me with two tickets, an unfinished promise, and more anger than I wanted to admit.
