I cried at my daughter’s grave every Sunday for a month. Sophie was only 17 when police came to our house and told us her car had crashed through a bridge railing during a violent storm. A teenage girl was found inside. Sophie’s wallet, school ID, jacket, and phone case were in the vehicle, and the victim matched her approximate age and appearance. Because of the condition of the remains, we were advised not to view her. Five days later, we buried Sophie in a closed casket.

What haunted me most was Sophie’s final phone call. She had asked me to pick her up because the rain was getting worse, but I told her to wait somewhere safe until the storm eased. Less than an hour later, her car went over the bridge. I blamed myself every day. Then, on the fourth Sunday at her grave, a groundskeeper named Arthur approached me in the rain. He looked at Sophie’s photograph on the headstone and quietly said, “Please don’t cry. You don’t know the whole truth about your daughter.”