On my 47th birthday, I set the table for three, one seat left heartbreakingly empty, and two years of silence from my daughter, Elise, had hardened into grief. But that night, a forgotten card in an old drawer unraveled everything I thought I knew.<\/p>\n
I placed the final plate gently, my hands just barely shaking\u2014three seats at the table, one more than we needed.<\/p>\n
The third plate sat in front of the same empty chair that had been untouched for two long years. I still set it out every birthday. It had become a ritual. Like hope, it stayed even when reason said it shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n