I’m still looking in my memories for the mirror that I must have broken since that fateful day when I began my search for her.

Seven… A magic number according to some beliefs.
Seven… The age of reason, the sabbatical year, the deadly sins, the wonders of the world, the women of Bluebeard, and the art of cinema.

Seven years already since you went for a walk, Marilyn, and never returned. Who would have thought? Certainly not me, nor the person I know as my sister.

What has struck me in the last seven years? This question comes up a lot these days.Tonight, seven words echo in my head:

Hope. The favorite one. The only one who holds up all the families of missing persons to live and to carry-on. I hope to use it for something else one day.
No. For the number of times I have heard “No” in the last seven years. Too bad for those who believed that it would make me give up.
Family. For the survival of my family despite the pain, and for our ability to still have fun regardless.
Violence. To emphasize my exasperation with the people who are content to say nothing for the victims. You know who you are. You should demand more.
Pizza oven. To represent all the horror stories that I have heard as a necessary evil to advance the investigation of a missing person.
Illness. When all hypotheses are considered, I learn more about unhappiness, human exploitation, and mental illness. There are too many people who feel lonely.
Silence. For people who do not speak and that should perhaps try, just to feel better.

Seven years. Here’s what the “Espace Citoyens” told me:
Seven years after the person’s disappearance, the Superior Court may pronounce a declaratory judgment of death.

This time, it’s me who says, “No.”
Because I still hope, with the invaluable support of my family and friends, to find my sister alive. I am fortunate to be neither sick nor beaten; nor I do not fear “pizza ovens” or any other disaster scenarios. I will never be silent about the disappearance of my sister Marilyn. I will continue to fight to find her.

Like my little girl would say, I love you all (seven) days of the week Marilyn.
Please give me a sign.

Nath xx