He sold his house and moved into a small, quiet apartment on the far side of the state.

My daughters naturally asked endless hard questions about why he had suddenly left our lives, and I made a conscious choice to answer them honestly, without loading their young hearts with unnecessary fear.

“Austin made some very terrible, cowardly mistakes five years ago,” I explained to them as we sat together in the living room.

“He should have had the courage to tell us the truth from the very beginning.

But people are complicated, and they can make awful mistakes while still caring about us.