His Penance, Her Peace: The Quiet Atonement

from childbirth, but there was no time for recovery. Leo' s tiny f

wor

ease and other people' s dinners clinging to my clothes. Early mornings, before Leo' s first cries, were for transcribing medical records onl

owned. I begged for extensions on our bills. Every dollar

usand dollars here, a few hundred there. It

n a crowded, underfu

memory. The weight of him was immense, and then it was

best I could do was a basic cremation. They h

found a small, simple wooden box for five dollars. It was meant for jewelry, maybe letters. I t

t withou

y chest. It was all I had left of my