I was tucking in my two-year-old, the night winding down like any other. As I was about to leave his room, he looked up at me and said, “Goodbye, dad.” I was caught off guard. “No, we say good night,” I corrected him, thinking it was just a slip of the tongue.

But he was insistent, repeating, “I know. But this time it’s goodbye.” His words struck me unexpectedly, leaving me a bit uneasy. There was something about the way he said it—calm and certain—that gave me pause. It felt like more than just a simple mistake.