It was a cozy room with plush chairs, but no amount of throw pillows would make me comfortable. Our son’s therapist recommended the residential treatment center in Texas after Max’s unpredictable moods left us bruised, our walls bashed in, our family broken. It was fourteen hundred miles away; nothing compared to how far Max’s rage episodes had taken him. We hugged goodbye amid tears. Then, words of comfort: “It’s going to be OK.” I was shaking, but Max’s voice held steady. He was still in there. And we thought—we hoped—sending him away would bring him back to us.
Finalist, Fall Contest 2023. Contest Readers’ praise for AWAY. AND BACK. included “good sensory detail” and “difficult subject, written well.”
Debbie Feit has written prose for The New York Times, angry letters to her insurance company, and texts to her children that go unanswered. Instagram and X: @debbiefeit, debbiefeit.com