Among them was a photograph of a little girl I had never seen before.
Her name was Grace. My mother finally told me the truth: Grace had been my older sister. She died at four, years before I was born, after a sudden illness. My parents had been devastated, and their grief nearly destroyed their marriage. They eventually chose silence, believing they were protecting themselves and the child they would later have.
But Mom had secretly kept Grace’s things. Every year at the country house, she lifted the mattress, read
