He was searching for something else.
Sleep that wouldn’t come.
Answers that might never be complete.
And a way to live with memories that refused to fade.
The community wanted answers, too. People wanted to understand what had happened, why it happened, and whether someone could eventually be held responsible.
But even when investigations uncover the truth, some questions cannot be answered in a way that makes the loss disappear.
A suspect may eventually be identified.
A motive may be established.
A case may one day reach a courtroom.
But none of those things can bring back a child’s laughter, a familiar voice, or footsteps coming down the hallway.
Eventually, the news cycle moves on.
Another story takes its place.
Another headline appears.
For the father, however, there is no simple “after.”
There is only the slow process of learning how to live in a world divided forever into two parts:
Before.
And everything that came after.
