For Three Years, I Believed My Wife Had Abandoned Me After My Accident—Then I Found Her Holding Our Son and Learned My Mother Had Told Her I Was Dead

Occasionally, he used another word.

Dad.

Usually when he was tired.

Or frightened.

Or excited about something.

Each time, I had to work hard not to react as though it were a miracle.

I didn’t want to turn his language into a performance.

He needed to choose it naturally.