For years, I lived with a quiet ache I could never explain. I watched my best friend raise a child who looked too much like me, laughed like me, even shared small habits I had never taught anyone.
Every time she called that child her daughter, something inside my chest tightened, but I pushed the feeling away.
I told myself grief can play tricks on the mind.
Seventeen years ago, I gave birth under difficult circumstances. I was young, scared, and alone.
The labor was complicated, and I lost consciousness shortly after delivery. When I woke up, I was told my baby had not survived. I remember screaming, then going numb.…CONTINUE READING