Chapter 13

Max

The hardest goodbyes are the ones we never see coming. You are never ready to say goodbye.When the doctor told us about Ralph Ellie cried again on my shoulder .

We were not told the cause of death,because we were not his legal guardians. A week later when we went to the funeral Ellie wasn't herself. We were both dealing with loss, and I didn't want us to go through it alone. I've made the mistake of holding back with Ellie before and I don't want to make the same mistake again. We were also a couple of days away from tournament .

Ellie stayed behind after the funeral. The words she spoke hit home in more ways than one. I am a man who is always in control of his emotions , and Ellie always sees right through me . She said;

" When loss happens ; we feel everything and nothing at the same time. You want to numb the bad feelings, but you can't do that without affecting the