I feel tears slip from my eyes one by one, but I’m too focused on what’s in front of me.
More drawings. Notes in a child's handwriting. A card withI miss you!scrawled across it in crayon.
And more notes from Johanna, one after another, each one filling me in on Izzy’s life. A year's worth of updates, milestones and memories. Week after week. Month after month.
Then, at the bottom of the box, a handmade bracelet. Tiny, colorful beads spell outIzzy & Dani—Sisters Forever.
I slip it on before turning my attention to the keepsake box. It’s exquisitely handcrafted. I run my hand across the lid, smooth, with clean lines. My name is engraved just above a delicate floral carving. He didn’t miss a single detail.
I open it, and inside, nestled in velvet the color of deep violets, I find a folded piece of paper sitting on top of a stack of photos that make me catch my breath.
Izzy after losing her first tooth, proudly holding up the money from the tooth fairy.
Izzy on a tricycle.
Her first day of school, a tiny, glittery backpack slung over one shoulder.
Doing a handstand in what looks like a gymnastics class.
Wearing a cheerleading outfit, posing for the camera.
I look at Tina, her smile soft with understanding—Izzy’s life for an entire year. Happy. Safe.
But without me.
I unfold the letter. The handwriting isn’t Johanna’s. It’s all uppercase, masculine, written the way a cop would write.
Cal.
It's dated almost a year after I lost Izzy.
No. A year after he took her from me.
"Hey kid,"it begins. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that Cal was already a man when I was still a child.
Hey kid,
I don’t know if you’ll even read this, or if you’ll want to. But I need to say a few things anyway. I didn’t forget you. Not for a single day. I kept coming back because I believed what you said to me.
That day at the bus station, when you bit me, right before you passed out, you said, "Bring her back, please. She's all I have."
I didn’t take that lightly. In fact, I had those words inked into my skin, right over the scar. That bite mark never faded, so I figured your words shouldn’t either.
Izzy’s safe. She’s happy. She’s still drawing you in every picture. You’re in everything we do.
There’s something else I need to tell you. When we adopted her, we changed her name. Not to erase anything, but because hearing 'Izzy' was just too much for her.
She cried every time someone said it. It reminded her too much of you, because you were the only one who called her that, just like she was the only one who called you Dani. So we talked about it, and we settled on Elizabeth Hazel. It’s different, but not a replacement.
I hope you can understand, and I hope it doesn’t make you angry. You’re still her sister. You always will be.
We're still here. Waiting as long as it takes.
—Cal
I hand the letter to Tina, unable to speak. My mind is reeling.She’s all I have.
I remember the first time I saw those words tattooed on Cal’s arm and thinking they had something to do with an ex… or maybe his daughter. Never imagining they had been my words.
