I finally looked at my phone while sitting at the kitchen table, still wearing my uniform with one glove off. There were missed calls and condolence messages, but then a social media notification from my mother, Andrea, popped up. I opened it with a spark of hope, thinking there might be an emergency or a heartfelt apology for their absence.
The screen showed my mother in a floral sundress and my father, Paul, holding a bottle of beer by a bright blue pool. My brother, Tyler, was grinning with both thumbs up in a tropical paradise that looked completely fake. The caption read, “Greetings from the Rossi family in Maui,” and it had been posted three hours before the funeral.
Before I could process the picture, another message from my mother flashed at the top of my screen. It was clearly meant for someone else, saying they finally escaped that dreary funeral atmosphere and that the lilies looked cheap anyway. She added that Tyler really needed this vacation after having to endure the news about my daughter.