*Raven*

Melany and I spend the entire day together, and I even have the opportunity to meet her mother, Anya. She invites me to dinner, which I happily accept, not eager to go back to my empty home. When I do eventually leave very late that evening, I realize that the ache of being away from Kieran has been survivable today. 

I think of my mother and how she’s had to push through the pain of being separated from my father. She managed to survive these last 20 years without ...