On Our 21st Birthday, We Received a Mysterious Box—We Gasped When We Saw What Was Inside

been. We’d blow out candles for two, even though both of us silently counted three.

At 12, I wished for Nora to come back.

At 13, I wished for Mom to stop crying in the laundry room.

At 14, I wished Leila would talk to me again the way she used to.

Because losing Nora did something to my sister and me. It did not pull us together, the way people said grief continue reading …