She was running the 800. She went down on the back straight.
It was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Nobody knew she had it. That’s the entire nature of it — the first symptom is very often the last thing that happens.
She was eleven days from graduating.
I want to say something about the eleven days, because that number has been in my mouth for ten years.
The gowns had already come in. Hers was in a garment bag on the back of her bedroom door. She’d already done the yearbook photo, already had her name in the program, already had the little card you hand the announcer so he says it right.
