“Your entire home was obliterated!” exclaimed one of our neighbours with a tremor in his voice, his eyes wide with shock. I refused to accept the grim proclamation. “Don’t believe that at all! Nothing has happened to it,” I retorted, clinging desperately to the fragile hope that our cherished home remained unscathed. The thought of losing the sanctuary where I had experienced some of life’s purest joys, surrounded by the laughter and love of my cherished family, was incomprehensible. It was as though a vital fragment of my very essence had been wrenched away, leaving behind a profound emptines…