“The Parents Who Abandoned Me at 16 Showed Up to My Uncle’s Will Acting Like It Was Theirs”

of notebook paper with my name written in my mother’s looping handwriting.

Emma, we can’t do this anymore. Your uncle will take care of you. We’re sorry. Take care of yourself.

I stared at those words until they blurred. No phone number. No forwarding address. No money. Their cell phones went straight to voicemail. By day three, the landlord was pounding continue reading …