A Remnant of a Shattered Vase

A Remnant of a Shattered Vase

A Remnant of a Shattered Vase
By Genevieve Beltran

Shortly before my terminally ill husband began hospice care at home, I began writing my memoir in micro-flash, A Remnant of a Shattered Vase. Wrestling with loss, longing, and the fear of the unknown, I decided to chart my emotional landscape in a series of kaleidoscopic vignettes which interweave the painful present with echoes from the past. What began as a memoir centered around cancer and caregiving expanded into an examination of the forces that had impacted my interracial union: generational dysfunction, patriarchal Catholicism, and my growing resolve to view myself as a writer despite my husband’s inability to see beyond my role as his wife. Married thirty-eight years to an alcoholic, I battle relief and despair as I try to come to terms with the person I once was and the one I will become when the only man I’ve ever loved is no longer among the living.