Maternal Flame

“Hope is a toxin that poisons many families of the missing. They either purge it and try to move on from their loved ones, or they sustain it, and it destroys them … For the most part, residents don’t speak out against organized crime. The risk is asymmetric. The police are unlikely to do anything, while the cartel almost certainly will — most often in the form of revenge … Disappearances undermine the very nature of grief, stripping families of even the most basic closure. Condemned to a life buoyed by even the tiniest bit of hope, the pain cycles on a loop, its own unique form of torture.” Three amazing lines from one amazing piece. Azam Ahmed in the NYT: She Stalked Her Daughter’s Killers Across Mexico, One by One.