It’s our routine to leave a completed puzzle out for a bit before packing it up.

Often there’s a piece missing. Sometimes more than one. The first puzzle we did after returning from Colorado was missing a single piece. We’d been down on hands and knees, combing the rug more than once looking for it. I emptied the barrel of the vacuum too, also to no avail. We thought the piece was well and truly missing.

And so, when it showed up on the floor near the edge of the rug a couple of days later (see white circle above), I was shocked. It’s a very visible placement, one we’d walked past repeatedly over the course of a few days. All I could think was, “Dan.”

There’s a specialty puzzle shop on Pearl Street in Boulder that features a big dish of stray puzzle pieces. Customers are welcome to take one. On one of our last two trips to Boulder, we went in with Danny so he could take a piece. It was something he did. Here are three pieces that we found among his belongings.

And then this.

I was cleaning our front door, a task I don’t do often but certainly have done many times over the years. Never before, however, have I noticed Danny’s signature scratched into the acrylic. But there it was, plain as day.

That’s part of why when later that afternoon a robin flapped down three feet away and looked at me, I said, “Hello Dan.” And I heard back, “Hi Mom.”

PS I forgot to mention that a couple of days ago while taking a walk I dipped my hand into my cardigan pocket and was surprised to find a puzzle piece there.