“It turned out everything I needed had to fit in three bags. One for Gram to carry with her own bag, and two for me to carry. I didn’t have any luggage, just a backpack. Gram said to take something from Mom and Dad’s room. She was busy, for some reason believing the house had to be clean before we left. While she scoured the kitchen counters, I went upstairs to my parents’ room.”
When Aubrey's father and little sister are killed in a car accident, she and her mother must find a new way of living their life together, but alone. As they struggle, her mother slips into a deep depression and is unable to take care of herself, much less her daughter. One day she simply disappears and Aubrey fends for herself...until her grandmother makes the discovery and comes to rescue her and take her to Vermont. In the skilled hands of her loving, stable grandmother and a new friend, Bridget, who love and support her and, with her own willingness to write letters to the important people in her life to help her voice her sorrow and confusion, Aubrey begins to find her way through the abyss. She learns to smile again, to laugh and to find some peace in her world. She also finds out where her mother has gone, and that she is in treatment to help her deal with her problems. In the end, Aubrey must make a momentous decision about how her life will go from here, and she shows great courage as she does just that.
The story is heartbreaking and hopeful...but it wreaked havoc on my tear ducts and my emotions. I cried myself through some of the more poignant moments, and wondered how a mother could ever leave her 11 year old daughter on her own. That also made me aware of the huge price that one pays when dealing with mental health issues, gone untreated. Aubrey's mother needed help, as much as Aubrey did. Luckily, they both found what they needed to help the healing really begin.
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