My 9 Year Old Found a Note Telling Us to Move Out Before Christmas So I Packed in Silence

that mattered.

We followed your instructions.

Nothing else. She did not explain or apologize or soften the statement. She left it as a fact.

The new apartment felt both too small and too enormous in the way new spaces always do before they are filled with ordinary life. Boxes lined the walls. The fake tree listed slightly because the floor was uneven.continue reading …