‘Hey, Aunt C,’ Andie said with a smile, breezing past her into the house toward the loud conversation taking place in the dining room off the entryway. ‘Hey everyone,’ she called out as she walked in.

There was a noticeable increase in volume as everyone hugged and talked over one another but I stayed glued to the foyer near my mom. I let my eyes wander for a moment, taking in the familiar home that I’d spent so much time in growing up. The same painting of Jesus Christ still hung in the entryway and the end tables straight ahead in the formal sitting room were still home to various trinket boxes and religious figurines. After a moment my dad rounded the corner from the dining room and came to join us, pulling my attention back to the impending conversation. His salt and pepper hair was greyer than I remembered, making me wonder if the stress of all this was aging him faster.

‘There’s my Lizard,’ he said, pulling me into a hug.

‘Ugh, Dad,’ I said. We’d had countless debates on how much this childhood nickname needed to go.

‘Alright, alright. My Lizzie,’ he said, and I could tell he was happy to see me as well as extremely anxious from the way his brown eyes turned down ever so slightly at the corners.

Here we go, I thought to myself. The only saving grace was that this inevitable conversation had an expiration time, since I knew Gram would hustle us in for dinner at any moment. Feeding her loved ones was what gave her the greatest joy in life and we were more than happy to let her.

‘Liz, are you still angry with us? We haven’t really heard from you and I know you’ve been busy, but the way we left things when we spoke before, well, we’ve been so worried about you.’ My mom wrung her hands together as she spoke.

My dad reached over and took one of her hands into his. I opened my mouth but before answering, I glanced in the direction of the busy dining room nervously. Making a decision, I directed my parents into the living room on the opposite side of the first floor to give us some privacy. I didn’t speak until we were tucked into the tight space. It had a baby grand piano and two floral love seats, all situated close together.

‘I know some of the family knows what’s going on but I don’t want to have this conversation in front of all of them. It’s mortifying,’ I said, my voice wavering with the underlying emotion that was creeping its way closer to the surface.