When I Was Four, My Mother Left Me Alone in a Church—Twenty Years Later She Returned Crying, “We Need You”

“I don’t know.”

I used to hate those answers.

Now I understand what a gift they were.

Florence never built a comforting lie that reality could later destroy.

PART 6 — ADOPTION

I lived with Florence first as a foster child.

Then under long-term guardianship while courts dealt with my parents’ disappearance.

When I was eight, after years without contact and the necessary legal proceedings, Florence adopted me.

She asked before filing.