My sister smiled just before my little daughter slipped into the hotel pool. When I tried to reach her, my father grabbed my arm and refused to let me go.

a baby.

I never intended to use any of it.

I suppose part of me had believed that one day they would change, or that distance would be enough. We lived in New Jersey. They lived in Connecticut. We saw them for holidays, birthdays, funerals, and forced family events where everything looked normal from ten feet away.

But a child sinking in water has a way continue reading …