Living Obituary
Annabelle Hart
Called Annabelle · Born April 19, 2021 · Harbor Mill, Ohio
They are still here. This is a living obituary, not a death notice.
“She is five. We are writing this with her, not after her. She picked the pictures.”
Annabelle Hart, called Annabelle, is still here. Born April 19, 2021, in Harbor Mill, Ohio. She is five. Claire Hart, her mother, is writing this with her. Daniel is her father. Nora is her grandmother.
A tumor in her brain they cannot take, and she is still here. This living obituary is not a clinic. It is Pip in her lap. Pip is a rabbit. He does not need a last name. It is the yellow dog she drew and named Toast, and would not let anyone throw the page away. It is bubbles on the stoop on a good day. It is Sunday on the couch with Claire and Daniel, and the book her mother already knows to read again.
She picked the pictures. She looks like herself. She was not only sick. Tell the cousins that. Keep Pip. Keep the drawing. Keep the bubbles.
This is written with her, not after her.


