I deliver mail on the same route every day. Off-season Tuesdays are the quietest.
The sign outside Mel's Hardware is hand-painted, the letters uneven. 'Open' on one side, 'Closed' on the other. It's been on 'Closed' for months now.
I still carry the churchkey bottle opener he gave me on my keyring. He said every mail carrier needs one for the road.
We had a thing for a while. He was fifty-six. I was nineteen.
He taught me how to fix a faucet, how to read a ledger, how to want something badly enough to paint a sign by hand.
The shop didn't make it. Neither did we. But I never took the churchkey off my keys.
Some days I think that sign was the most honest thing he ever made. 'Open' when he could afford it. 'Closed' when he couldn't.
I pass by every Tuesday. The sign never flips anymore. But I still swing my keys when I walk.