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All Done

Tamara MC

I’m on my bike in a red helmet, the Catalinas swallowed by clouds, when I text my ex-husband for the first time in five years: "Our son is turning thirty! Can you believe it? Thirty years ago, I was twenty-three!" Two minutes later, he replies: "Too young, but now we have a thirty-year-old. All done. Enjoy your day." I stop pedaling. Too young. As if you can return a child. All done. Fifteen years divorced and I finally understand: He was always done. A quail darts across the asphalt, her chicks a blur behind her. I will never be done.

Tamara MC, PhD, is the 2025 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist Grand Award winner. Her work appears in The New York Times, Newsweek, and 90+ publications. www.tamaramc.com Instagram and X: @tamaramcphd

Smoke