When the Eight-Year-Old Boy We Were Adopting Came Home With Everything He Owned in a Black Bag—Then My Missing Brother’s Watch Fell Onto His Bed

The watch changed our understanding.

Not our decision.

That is the line I return to.

Years after Oliver left for college, I found his original stuffed bear in our guest room closet.

Flattened fur.

Button eye.

I called.

“Do you want this?”