He sat with his wife’s photo, waiting for a son who had already boarded without him

I let go of the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. We drove down two-lane roads flanked by open fields. Her house sat at the edge of town, a modest two-bedroom with chipping white paint and a wide porch that looked like it had seen decades of stories.

There was no formal plan, no intake forms, no talk of burden. Just warm soup, clean sheets, and continue reading …