Fifteen Years After My Divorce, I Found My Ex-Mother-in-Law Digging Through a Dumpster

She sold her furniture piece by piece, then her jewelry. For years, she kept them afloat while the bills piled up, but eventually, she lost the house.

Lost everything, really, except the boy.

“We sleep in my car now,” she said quietly.

“I park near the school so he can walk in the mornings.”

My throat tightened.

She hesitated. “He’s a few blocks away.

I didn’t want him to see me like this.”

“Bring him here,” I said.

Her head snapped up. “I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” I said. “And you will.”

***

The boy stood close to Dorothy when she came back.

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