Your Tenderness Is a Frozen Lie

Two kilometers from the summit of Mount Everest, my boyfriend John Rowe suggested we hold an anonymous vote to pick one person to stay behind. When the results came in, there were four of us, and all four votes were mine. John signed to me gently, explaining, "The oxygen is thinner up there, and you can't hear. It's safer for you to stay here." My best friend Odette Chavez stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug, her whole face full of reluctance to let me go.