After my dad died by suicide, I had to clean his room. Not because there were so many bullets on the floor. Not because I didn’t want anyone else to see the remnants of his last moments. Not because we couldn’t afford to hire a cleaning service. …

Our neighbors raise pigeons. They have three pigeon houses in their backyard that look like playhouses. Their son takes care of the pigeons, and my mom says he’s like Boo Radley, and that’s not a bad thing. I see him outside all the time cleaning the coop and feeding…