dear cassie,

cassie.

cas.

Cassiopeia.

your parents loved astrology.

you loved the fact that your name was a constellation, it was unique and pretty, just like you

when we were thirteen, you painted the ceiling black. it was weird at first, but then came the stars.

you used glow in the dark paint for the stars so that they would light up in the night.

we would just lay there, on your bedroom floor, looking at the stars.

you never knew, but I got you a graduation present
just days before you passed

I bought it way before graduation.
I knew the minute I saw it, I had to buy it.

a silver star necklace

it was simple but it meant something

I never got the chance to give it to you when you were alive

but I made sure it ended up in your hands before they buried you

when I went up to the open casket, I laid the necklace in your cold hands

the silver looked perfect on such porcelain

love, Barry