The Ex Talk

by Rachel Lynn Solomon

After my dad died, I sought comfort anywhere I could.

Every time I imagined adulthood, it looked different from this reality. All the important people in my life have their person. I have an empty house and my supposed dream job that doesn’t always love me back.

Except once my dad was gone, I realized I didn’t want a giant, raucous family. All I wanted was him.

Maybe there will always be a ghost in this house, but it doesn’t mean that I need to disappear, too.

“My life just . . . fell apart after that. People would tell me I was lucky to

have eighteen years with him, lucky he didn’t die when I was much younger. None of that made it any easier to lose him.

The thing about losing someone is that it doesn’t

happen just once. It happens every time you do something great you wish they could see, every time you’re stuck and you need advice. Every

time you fail. It erodes your sense of normal, and what grows back is decidedly not ...

have to figure out how to tru...