After My Wife Was Gone, I Found a Divorce Decree from 20 Years Ago, and the Family Secret That Followed Changed Everything

I sat down hard on the edge of the bed, the paper trembling in my hands. My brain tried to reject it the way the body rejects something it cannot process. I read it again. Then again. Each time, the words stayed the same.

Divorce decree.

Judge’s signature.

Claire’s signature, graceful and familiar.

My signature, tight and uneven.

I traced her name with my fingertip, as if the ink might unlock a memory I’d misplaced.

“Claire,” I whispered into the quiet room, “what did we do?”Continue reading…