My mother dumped my baby’s ashes into the toilet because she said my grief was “bad energy” for my pregnant sister….

But Marlene kept going, because once she believed she was right, she always pushed forward. “Noah is gone. Emily needs to accept that.”

The words sounded even harsher on video than they had in person.

I stopped recording and immediately sent the file to myself, then to cloud storage, then to my coworker Dana. She answered on the second ring.

“Emily?”

“I need you to save something for me,” I said. “Right now. Don’t ask questions yet.”