I spent two weeks in the hospital, and my husband never came to see me — but when I finally returned home and opened the front door, I stood frozen in disbelief.

sitting by himself at a long cafeteria table while classmates laughed around him.

Once I asked him about it gently.

“Honey, do you ever sit with anyone at lunch?”

“Sometimes,” he replied without looking up from his book. “I don’t mind being alone, Mom. Really.”

I didn’t push. But I knew the difference between not minding and not having a choice.

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