I Left My House Empty Three Days Before Christmas

They weren’t. But my body remembered what it felt like to steer into a life that had changed while nobody else could tell by looking at me.

At a red light on Highway 17, my phone started buzzing in the cup holder.

“Diane.”

My daughter’s name lit the screen bright as a warning sign.

I let it ring.

Then my son, Gary.

Then Diane again.

Then a group text. Then continue reading …