Enter the place

Julie smoothed the silky black fabric of her dress, gazing out at the hundreds of solemn faces gathered at City Winery. Soft candlelight and melancholic violin music set the tone, as her closest coworkers and friends murmured in hushed tones. Kind words and nostalgic stories were being shared up front through the microphone about Mark - her high school sweetheart turned husband of 15 wonderful years. Ex-husband as of a week ago, she reminded herself, when the divorce papers were finalized.

The weight of that final signature felt heavy on Julie's mind. She tried focusing instead on the long string of cheerful memories she and Mark had shared over the years. From their playful meet-cute chat at a college house party to jetting off on Caribbean vacations once the kids were older. All the way through to movie nights and messy pancake breakfasts in their cozy Cleveland Park home after busy work weeks.

Those joyful images now seemed faded and far away though, obscured by the much more painful recent arguments that had unearthed how far she and Mark had emotionally drifted apart. Julie wondered when exactly their once unbreakable connection and intimacy had started quietly unraveling without her even fully noticing.

Dabbing a tissue under her misty eyes, Julie clasped her hand tightly around the silver bracelet Mark had thoughtfully gifted her years ago for their tenth anniversary. At least they had ended things as respectfully as possible for sake of their daughters. Amanda and Lily were both away at summer camp, spared from these mourning rituals with friends and relatives.

As the wake concluded, Julie stepped up to sign the memorial book placed beside a framed photo of Mark that would remain on permanent display here. Capturing them arm-in-arm, beaming youthful smiles brimming with hopeful promise for only happy years stretching ahead...