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

I stepped out back just to stand in the cold air for a minute and remind myself that the world existed beyond fluorescent lights and computer screens.

That’s when I spotted an elderly woman crouched by the dumpster.

She wore a thin gray coat too big for her frame.

Her hands shook as she pulled a half-crushed sandwich from the trash.

At first, I didn’t recognize her.

Why would I? It had been 15 years.

But then she looked up, and even though her face was thinner, her hair was grayer, and her eyes were hollow in a way they’d never been before, I knew.

My stomach dropped.

“Dorothy?” I whispered.

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