The Summer I Thought We Were Getting Closer

The summer of 2022 gave me another reason to believe everything was going to be okay.

My middle son called me constantly asking to go to the amusement park—we went 11 times that summer. Sometimes his siblings came, sometimes friends and cousins joined us, and every trip made me believe our relationship was getting stronger. My oldest was driving, working, and becoming more independent, while my daughter spent so much time at my house with her friends that I joked I had three daughters instead of one.

From the outside, we looked connected. We were connected. That's what makes what happened next so difficult to understand.

Then, at the end of the summer, my daughter was registered for dance. I walked into a familiar dance studio simply to buy her shoes, having no idea that this place would eventually become connected to both some of the greatest sadness—and greatest happiness—of my life.

In Episode 104 of After the Quiet, I reflect on the difference between happy memories and false hope, the early stages of family estrangement, and the summer when I truly believed my relationships with my children were getting stronger.

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Avsnitt(106)

The Last Photo With My Eldest Son

It was Thanksgiving weekend in October 2022. My family had gathered at my mom's house, and before my eldest son left, someone suggested we take a quick picture together at the front door.It was comple...

22 Sep 11min

The Last Birthday Bash

Labour Day weekend had always meant one thing in my family: our annual birthday celebration for all the Virgos. In September 2022, we gathered at my mom’s house to celebrate my birthday, my sons’ birt...

15 Sep 18min

False Glimmer of Hope

In July 2022, after months of growing tension and distance, I took all three of my children on a week-long vacation to visit my extended family. For a little while, everything felt normal again.We too...

8 Sep 14min

Big Steps Back

It didn't happen overnight. It happened in inches.By early 2022, getting my teenage sons to school during my parenting time had become such a struggle that I made a decision I would later regret: I to...

3 Sep 15min

Finding love after abuse

After separating in 2019, I had finally become comfortable being alone. Then, during COVID, a spontaneous $9.99 Tinder purchase led me to the man who would become my partner. My children welcomed him,...

1 Sep 17min

Calm Before The Storm: Co-Parenting

Can an abusive relationship ever seem peaceful again? In Episode 100 of After the Quiet, I reflect on a surprising chapter during the COVID-19 pandemic when the conflict between my ex-husband and me a...

27 Aug 9min

The Family I Thought I’d Lost

What if one of your greatest fears after leaving an abusive relationship never comes true? In Episode 99 of After the Quiet, I share the emotional story of attending my former husband's grandfather's ...

25 Aug 10min