When was the last time you went an entire week without hearing your child’s voice? Not a late text saying she was swamped. Not a missed call followed by a rushed apology. Not even one of those little heart emojis mothers pretend are enough when they are trying not to worry.
I mean a full, silent week.
Seven days of calling and hearing it ring out.
Seven days of texts that stayed unread.
Seven nights of waking up at three in the morning with your phone in your hand and the kind of dread that sits in your chest like a stone.
If you are a parent, then you know this already: there is a silence that feels ordinary, and there is a silence that feels wrong.
The silence from my daughter Claire felt wrong by the second day.
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