(You can listen to this piece on S3E4 of the podcast)
“I see reminders of him everywhere,” Shiloh said shaking her head.
“I can see that,” her sister Tamera responded with a shrug, then looked down at her smart watch to check her heartrate. She frowned, then picked up the speed as they rounded the corner of Elm and Sycamore streets, in the quiet Gable West neighborhood of their hometown.
“I miss him,” Shiloh huffed, trying to keep up with her sister and the conversation. “I never realized how strange life would be without him.”
“Do you think he’s replaceable?” Tamera asked.
Shiloh shot her sister a long side-eye.
“Fine, he’s not replaceable,” Tamera conceded, “I just mean how long do you think it’ll take to move past feeling this way?”
Before Shiloh could reply, they came upon a poll in the sidewalk that they split and then a dog walker who took up most of the sidewalk with five poodles. Finally back in tandem, Shiloh cleared her throat emphatically before answering.
“I’ll always miss him,” she whined. “He was always there when I needed him.”
“Sure, he was reliable,” Tamera replied, attempting a conciliatory tone.
“More than that,” Shiloh replied, her voice raised slightly. “I recall him coming to your rescue a few times, too. Remember that time you were stranded in the sticks after that senior party back in high school and he and I came to get you in the middle of the night because your stupid best friend left without you to hook up with some guy?”
Tamera rolled her eyes at the embarrassment of that incident. “Yeah, I remember.”
“And he was low key, you know?” Shiloh added.
“Right. Not flashy at all,” Tamera agreed.
“And he was both cute and rugged,” Shiloh said.
“Can’t argue with you on that one,” Tamera conceded.
“And we were together for so long!” Shiloh said, huffing out her words now. She checked her own mile tracker. “That was five miles already,” she announced, slowing down.
Tamera slowed too, recognizing that they’d indeed finished their route for the day.
“It’s just rough, you know, trying to move on,” Shiloh said as they moved their way to a bench to stretch.”
“Yes, I get it, Jack the Jeep will be missed, but everyone has to junk their first car at some point,” Tamera said with all the patience she could muster. “And for the record, I think the next car should be a girl. We’ll call her Audrey the Audi.”
