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Grandma Ruth: EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T RESPONDED IN OVER A YEAR.

Several names reacted with embarrassed emojis.

Another message followed.

Grandma Ruth: FAMILY IS STILL FAMILY, EVEN WHEN THEY’RE QUIET.

Something inside me softened before I could stop it. I closed the group information page without leaving. Just for now. Only because my curiosity deserved five more minutes.

Five minutes became twenty.

When I brushed my teeth before bed, I checked the chat again. Someone had started a debate about whether hot dogs counted as sandwiches.

Grandpa Alfonse voted yes. Nobody seemed surprised.

After washing my face, I discovered Trevor had posted a video of a goat wearing sunglasses.

Trevor: boss energy

Eight people agreed.

The next morning, I poured cereal into a bowl and opened the chat before YouTube. Apparently, Mason had left on a road trip. Half the family reminded him to fill up his tank before picking up his girlfriend, three people reminded him to wear sunscreen, two others asked whether he had enough snacks, and Grandma Ruth reminded him to call his mother.

I smiled into my cereal but quickly scolded myself. Reading another family’s group messages was definitely wrong, but no one seemed to notice I was there, and it was more company than I’d had in a long time.

Damn, that was sad.

Still, what harm could it really be continuing to read the chat for a while? It would probably die down once the novelty of the app wore off.

I found myself checking the chat while waiting for files to export. While my coffee brewed. During lunch. When I should have been answering emails.

I wasn’t invested.

I was simply… observing. People-watching from a safe distance.

Around midafternoon, Julie uploaded a flyer.

Julie: Anybody know why this looks… off?

The attached image advertised a garage sale. The colors were at war with each other. The spacing wandered. The headline was centered, but the dates weren’t. The clip art had been stretched until the smiling sun looked vaguely threatening.

Trevor: needs more pizzazz

Hudson: less yellow

Karen: The apostrophe in “Saturday’s” is incorrect.

Grandma Ruth: I THOUGHT IT LOOKED CHEERFUL.

Byron: It is visually overwhelming.

I laughed.

Visually overwhelming.

That was exactly what it was.

Without thinking, I downloaded the flyer. Five minutes later I’d straightened the alignment, cleaned up the typography, adjusted the colors, replaced the clip art, and exported a cleaner version.