A Rare Specimen

Summary

• Tova, an older woman, asks her friend Janice Kim for help in finding a t-shirt online. The shirt is a memento from a 1995 Grateful Dead concert, the same one she had ruined at her acquaintance Ethan's house.
• Despite Ethan telling Tova not to worry about the shirt, Tova feels it is necessary to replace it and asks Janice for assistance in doing so.
• Janice finds the shirt online at an auction, but it costs $2,000. Despite this, Tova presses ahead with the purchase, refusing to explain why the shirt holds such importance to her.
• Instead of waiting for the shirt to be delivered in two to three weeks, Tova decides to drive three hours to pick it up from a warehouse the same day. She stubbornly insists on doing so alone, despite Janice's concerns.
• On her drive to pick up the shirt, Tova gets a call from Patrick, an employee at Charter Village. He needs verbal confirmation to process her final deposit for her move-in, which is happening the next month.
• While speaking to Patrick, Tova reflects on the unpredictability of life and how it’s shaped by small actions and decisions. She particularly reflects on her deceased son Erik, wondering if things might've been different if she got home sooner the day he died.
• Tova tells Patrick to go ahead and process her final deposit for Charter Village, indicating that she is proceeding with her plans to move and sorting out her unresolved business.