In July 2022, after months of growing tension and distance, I took all three of my children on a week-long vacation to visit my extended family. For a little while, everything felt normal again.

We took pontoon boat rides, spent time at a tiny beach, attempted paddle boarding, squeezed together into a little bunk house, laughed with family, and made memories. I came home believing that maybe we were going to be okay.

I didn't know it would be the last family vacation I would ever take with all three of my children.

In Episode 103 of After the Quiet, I reflect on another false glimmer of hope during the early stages of family estrangement and what I now understand as parental alienation. It's an episode about the lasts we don't recognize while we're living them—and the ordinary memories that become price ...