Victoria left me on her fifth birthday. Circumstances compelled me to move into a halfway house due to my opiate addiction, which was instigated by my former husband introducing me to pills. Struggling to make ends meet, my daughter and I had found ourselves relying on the generosity of one of my friends for a place to live. Gratefully, my mother stepped in, recognizing that Victoria deserved a healthy and happy mom.
Victoria left me dressed in a Minnie Mouse shirt with playful plastic Mickey ears on top of her head. Before my mother’s arrival, I had given Victoria some birthday presents and cherished the sight of her playing happily with them. We talked about Nana, and I told her she was only going to visit her for a few weeks, like a vacation. At that point, I still believed it.