“Just So You Know, We’re Using Your House for Christmas,” My Daughter-in-Law Texted — She Never Asked

music. I didn’t understand them, but I understood the cadences—the rise and fall of a joke, the soft murmur of a couple speaking close, the high, excited chatter of children. I watched the city slide by outside the window: clusters of orange-tiled roofs, laundry hanging from balconies, graffiti blooming across concrete walls.

My hotel room was small continue reading …