Weeks passed since I met Soren’s parents, but life had not returned to anything close to normal. 

I had tried, over and over, to convince myself that time would soften the ache, that routines could distract me, that silence could somehow make the weight lighter. But nothing could prepare me for this. Nothing could soften the blow of the news that came like a knife twisting in my chest this particular day.

The alert on my phone was simple like it was when the news of the death of Julian and ...