Last Christmas, my daughter Sarah pulled me aside after dinner. She looked uncomfortable, shifting her weight from foot to foot like she used to when she was little and had something difficult to say.
"Mom," she started, "I need to tell you something, and I don't know how..."
My heart sank. Was she sick? Getting divorced? Moving away?
"It's about... well, there's this smell. We've all noticed it. Even the kids mentioned it. We didn't want to hurt your feelings, but..."
I wanted to disappear into the floor.
I shower every single day. Sometimes twice. I use expensive soap from the department store. I keep my home spotless. How could there be a smell?
But then I started noticing things. How my grandkids' hugs had gotten shorter. How people stood a little further away during conversations. How visits seemed to end earlier than they used to.
The worst part? Nobody else would have told me. I could have gone years not knowing why people were slowly pulling away.