A Mother's Lost Decade

use was a heavy thing

, just like the grief

girl, t

ken her, just

, all gone before they

Michael had said, his voice f

as his

a boy, it was "his

l, "she had an u

didn't look l

hanged, always cruel

bed, the nursery door clo

e phantom weight of a

e of bad signs and weak cries,

the Michael

igh school sweet

h of memory, so

ent, years ago,

tires, shat

self in front of

ly. Life-threatening

e sav

loved, the one whose

shadow, who doted on me one moment and becam

ld he b

ught me tea in the morning

ter who took

as seamless

ould be soft, full of

be cold, hard, lik

wo images together. It felt

tand, to find a r

ick? Did he see s

secretly, after the

ancies, Sarah," they'd a

wasn't in the

n him. Or in this