As My Dad Was Dying, A Tupperware I Found In My Parents' Closet Brought Me The Most Unexpected Comfort

Midnight approached on Christmas Eve 2023, and I was in tears. I was curled up in my childhood bedroom in Tampa, Florida, home for the holidays and staring at the walls of the same room where I’d slept each Christmas Eve from ages 6 to 18. Back then, I’d drifted off to sleep anticipating the rituals of Christmas morning. That night, however, there were no presents under the tree, and my dad had gone to bed sullen and uncharacteristically withdrawn — partially from the dexamethasone he’d been prescribed...