The Postcards My Grandma Gave Me Were Hiding A Secret She Took To Her Grave

My dearest Zahra, If you are reading this, it means our daughter is safe. It means you found a way out. I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you. I hope she has your courage, your eyes. Tell her I loved her, even from afar. Always, A.

The word “Daughter?” echoed in my mind. My father was an only child. He didn’t have a sister.

But as I kept reading through the papers in the folder, an overwhelming, new truth began to form inside me. It felt like a slow and massive storm building up in my chest. I wasn’t reading about some distant cousin or a long-lost family member.

I was reading about me.

The woman I knew as Grandma Zahra hadn’t been my biological grandmother.

She had been my mother.Continue reading…