Chapter 17 - CLARA AND CHAIRS
Clara became strange about chairs.
Not afraid exactly.
Careful.
At restaurants:
“Is this chair mine?”
At school:
“Can I sit here?”
At home:
“Is this expensive?”
Dr. Chen helped.
We made no giant ceremony.
No “special chair of empowerment.”
That would still make the object too important.
Instead we practiced ordinary use.
Kitchen chair.
Park bench.
Library seat.
Dentist chair.
Movie theater.
People ask sometimes.
People share sometimes.
Some seats are assigned.
None determine human worth.
At six, Clara spilled juice on our sofa.
She burst into tears.
I handed her a cloth.
“Help me blot it.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Are you mad?”
“A little.”
She stared.
“Can you be mad and not push?”
May you like
“Yes.”
That sentence became one of the most important in our house.
