Sitting at the Thanksgiving table, I look from my mother, to my sister, to the empty chair. I should have contacted Madison in October. Then she would be sitting at our table, enjoying my mother’s extravagant Thanksgiving meal.

We are her family. Since 8th grade Madison has been at our holiday table and a member of our family. I can’t fault her for spending time with Alma’s family. I abandoned her. We planned to attend college together and I bailed. In the hours after I was ...