“Daughter daughter daughter daughter daughter,” I heard myself saying, roughly from a place in my throat just below my Adam’s apple. “Daughter daughter daughter daughter daughter daughter daughter,” I said again, and found that I had put my arms around myself. I sat down on the wood floor and began to rock myself. Then I moved over to the sofa, because it was softer, and rocked myself there. “I’m so sorry, daughter,” I said, tears in my eyes. “I’m sorry that you felt I had abandoned you.” “That is okay, Mother,” I said. “You were always here. I just didn’t know how to find you.”
