My daughter Isn’t Coming Back

I wonder what she sees now. I wonder what she’s trying to tell me?

Ana, at about age 11, walks on our driveway— Photo by author

She’s not coming back.

At first, I counted her death in days, then weeks, then months — now it’s been years.

I marked each turn of the moon with small changes, tears, and disbelief that another month had passed. I observed the passage of time as a spectator — her 16th birthday, her 17th, her…