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They drove over a bridge lit up in white, the lights dancing off the water. Palmer told Kent she could make out the shapes of boats in the water, and could tell they were in a residential area. She kept looking out the windows and would sigh in aggravation, which made Kent laugh. After a series of turns, the skyline opened up, and she gasped.
“We’ve already seen a sunrise,” she told him.
“First of all, you can never see too many, and second, the sunrise is a bonus. There’s something else I want to see and do.”
Palmer put her window down as they drove along the shoreline. “I love the sound the water makes when it hits the rocks. It sounds like the ocean is angry, but yet it can be so calming. What a mix of emotions it can bring.”
Kent agreed.
He parked, took the wheelchair out of the back, and set it up, complete with a blanket, and they started off on the natural trail. They walked until the path turned toward the east, and then they stopped and watched the sunrise. It was as beautiful as their morning on the beach in Chatham.
“The sun seems so close.”
“I know, like we could walk to it from here,” Kent said.
Palmer slowed down, and Kent suggested she sit in the chair. When he saw tears in her eyes, he pulled her to his chest. “It’s okay to use it,” he told her. “It doesn’t make you weak or incapable. It’s here to help you.”
She hesitated and then finally gave in. She sat down and covered her legs with the blanket. “I feel like this is a sign, and I don’t want to accept it.”
“It’s a sign that you just walked a mile and you’re tired. If it makes you feel any better, you can push me later.”
Palmer scoffed and rested her elbow on the armrest and her head in her hand. Kent pushed her into one of the benched areas meant for resting, and she perked up. “What’s this?”
“Painters gather here every day and paint the skyline.”
They sat there for a moment and watched a group of people with their paints and easels, painting the shoreline. “This is something you only see in galleries.”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. Thank you.” She looked at him and smiled.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the envelope that held her DNA results. Last night’s hiccup made opening this even more important. “I think this is the perfect spot to find out if you have family out there or not. I don’t want you to open it in a hotel or while we’re driving down the road. I want you to open it in a place you can remember, whether the contents are good or bad. If you have someone out there sharing your DNA, you’ll think back to the moment when you saw something you’ve only seen in galleries. And if you don’t, you’ll remember the beauty of what we saw this morning.”
Kent handed her the envelope. “Before you open it, I want to remind you, if it says there isn’t a match, it’s because they haven’t taken a test yet. You have family out there, Palmer. Let’s find them.”
Before I’m Gone
Sit in the front seat of a roller coaster and feel the wind in my hair
Eat tacos or tortillas from a roadside stand in New Mexico
Shop at a large farmers market
Meet Lana Del Rey and see her in concert
Take a picture of the most-painted shed in the US
Sit in the sand and watch the sunrise in Cape Cod
Take the steps to the Lincoln Memorial
Do yoga in Sedona
Tour and feed animals in a wildlife sanctuary
Stand under a waterfall
See Elvis on the street corner in Las Vegas
Hug an elephant
Find my family
Step on grapes and make wine
Run through a wheat field
Drive Route 66
See the marquees on Broadway
Ring the Liberty Bell
Buy a quilt from an Amish stand
See the northern lights in Minnesota
Visit Plymouth Rock
Touch Babe Ruth’s bat
Travel the Loneliest Road
Visit the Muhammad Ali Center
Dance in the rain with someone I love
Take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty
Check out the Grand Canyon
Take every picture I can of Palmer
Make Palmer smile
Eat chowdah in Boston, per Palmer
Eat pizza in Chicago
Try frozen custard in New York City
Get coffee in each city
TWENTY-ONE
Once again, the envelope that weighed a hundred pounds pressed heavily onto Palmer’s lap. Kent was right: it needed to be opened, but there wasn’t a perfect time or place to do it. Regardless of the results, they would taint her trip. She either had a family or she didn’t, and if she did, they’d never know each other.
Palmer sighed heavily and lifted the corner flap until the paper tore away from the glue, but then she chickened out when it came time to pull the sheet of paper out. She stared at the open envelope. Flipping it back and forth in her hand. The printing on the outside had become faded, likely from being touched so many times.
