Loss

She clutched her hoodie tightly around her body, shivering with cold. The wind whipped tendrils of long brown hair around her face and sent teardrops splattering to the ground. Her slight frame shook and looked as if she would fall at any moment. How could anyone withstand the shock of losing a beloved child? Not born of her body, not born of her blood, the child she had bathed and fed and held in the wee hours of the night for over a year was slowly drifting from her sight as the caseworker backed the car down the driveway. She had held his tiny hands while he took his first steps and clapped with joy when he spoke his first word. She had celebrated every milestone and wiped away every tear. Now she stood and cried- wondering if he would be comforted when he searched and cried for her in the middle of the night.