I Bought My Daughter a House and at the Housewarming Her Toast Left Me in Tears

book in her lap, not reading it, just holding it. She looked up when I came in.

“Where’s Mom?”

The question was so direct it left no room for softening.

“Mom left, baby girl,” I said. “She’s not coming back.”

Nancy was five. She had already lost a mother once. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, very briefly, the way children do when they are trying continue reading …