He saw a golden retriever and shouted something that sounded like “Da!”

I laughed and told him all about the dog.

I knew then that the blue folder had done more than uncover financial wrongdoing.

It had taught me that a life grows stronger when its owner can see clearly what is happening within it.

PART 24

Miles turned one in early autumn.

We held a little party at the community center, where the volunteers had hung paper stars from the ceiling.

There was a cake shaped like a moon and a ridiculous number of balloons because Marisol believed moderation had no place in a first birthday.