CNU-My daughter-in-law said Christmas would be easier if I stayed away, and my son did not even raise his eyes to defend me. So I stayed home, alone, exactly as requested. …

always has, indifferent and faithful at once.

Later, after the children were upstairs and the kitchen was finally clean, I stood alone on the back deck with my coat open to the cold and thought about what justice had cost.

It had cost me the version of my son I used to carry in memory without flinching. It had cost Susan and Raymond the ordinary illusion continue reading …