Today, it’s been a month since my father left us. I realize that aside from his birthday I now have a second date on which I will commemorate his life. My father’s death divided time into before and after.  A month ago, my first physical reaction was a gut reaction. An invisible hand squeezed my stomach. But this brief convulsion of my body wasn’t going anywhere. I did not throw up and no tears came. On that day, when sadness overwhelmed me, the muscles in my face contracted as if preparing for a sneeze. Was my body expressing what my…