I’ve heard people say that at the most terrible moments of their lives, they felt as if the ground had been yanked out from under them. I always thought it a hyperbolic turn of phrase. Now I know better. That moment on the platform, when the train pulled away and I was left standing with the cases, I felt as if I’d been dropped into some bottomless abyss, all my tomorrows black and empty. There’s no forgetting a moment like that—no forgiveness.
