A Handful of Sweat

Gazing out over the city from the rooftop bar, looking back at the years of hard work at university, the wedding, the new house, all the interminable nights at the office, the fights to hold on to his job, the too-short vacations, happy-sad, the slightly bigger new house, the sleepless nights before deadlines, between jobs, the kids-turned-teenagers, years of university ahead, the retirement party where he didn’t quite know how to react to people’s congratulations, he smiles a half smile to himself, and, without knowing it, brings his hand up to wipe the sweat from his mind.