Empty ...

She hadn't cried in many years.
She didn't want to say goodbye to Patty in front of everyone, so Patty would take her and her walker over to her new room at the home and we would stay with the kids. She cried saying goodbye to the kids and she cried saying goodbye to me. She asked me to take care of Patty. Once she started out the door, she didn't look back.
When Patty came back, we cleared out the fridge, got the kids into jackets and boots and rounded up their things for in the car.
The last one out, I picked up the bowl that she'd given me to take home and turned to close the door.
Her things were still there, her furniture and pictures, winnowed down to the most precious, as she moved to smaller and smaller places. In that moment, though, the place was empty ... it knew she didn't live there anymore.