I spent my whole life mailing letters to the address tied to my missing mother, always clinging to hope—until I finally received a reply that devastated me.

EditoronMarch 21, 2026

I reached for the top bundle with fingers that did not feel like mine.

There was the drawing of a woman with long brown hair holding the hand of a stick girl in a red dress.

There was the letter where I wrote that I got picked to read to the class.

There was the one where I said I hated mashed peas.

There was the one where I told her I got into university, the one where I said I was getting married, the one where I told her I had a daughter.