His eyes moved from Elaine to the box on the table.
For a moment, he seemed to be looking at a stranger.
“You’re really my aunt?”
Elaine’s lips trembled.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Ryan sat down slowly.
“Why didn’t you ever come to see me?”
Elaine looked at the floor.
“I tried.”
She pushed the box toward him.
“I tried for years.”
Ryan opened it.
The first thing he found was a birthday card with a cartoon dinosaur on the front.
Inside, Elaine had written about his seventh birthday, the cake she’d helped him choose, and the way he’d insisted on wearing his favorite green shirt to school.
Ryan stared at the card.
“I remember this shirt.”
Elaine began to cry.
He picked up another letter.
Then another.
He read in silence until he reached the envelope from his father.
I watched his expression change as he read.
Confusion.
Anger.
Disbelief.
Then grief.
