My Sister Disappeared After Her Wedding Night and Ten Years Later I Found a Letter She Wrote the Next Morning

At my sister Laura’s wedding, she danced joyfully in a stained dress under Christmas lights in our Iowa backyard. The next morning, she vanished, leaving her wedding dress folded in a motel room, no note, no trace. We searched, questioned her husband Luke, but found nothing. Mama stopped singing, Daddy grew heavy, and Luke eventually left. Ten years later, I found a letter in Laura’s college box, addressed to me, dated post-wedding. Laura wrote she was pregnant, couldn’t stay, and left an address. I told Mama, Daddy, and Luke. At the Wisconsin

address, I found Laura in a yellow house with her daughter, Maddie. She’d left to love Maddie’s father, not Luke, and built a quiet life. I lied to Mama, saying I didn’t find Laura, and burned the letter to protect her peace. Laura’s truth lived in her new life, and that was enough for me.