The Questions That Haunt Grieving Siblings

Do you have any siblings?

I don’t feel the warm rush of panic flood my chest when I’m asked this question anymore, though I’ve never quite gotten used to it. As a middle-aged mom, I don’t actually hear it as much anymore. When I’m getting to know someone new, our inquiries tend to center around kids or jobs or news.

So when someone asked me recently, I was caught off guard.

We were at my mom’s doctor appointment. My mind flitted around from the fire alarm that had delayed her appointment by a half hour to my mom’s health to the stubborn disbelief that I was sitting there instead of my dad, who died a year and a half ago.

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