“It’s interesting to hear somebody explain how ordinary things actually reach a store.”

So I told them about the people who kept our warehouses running, and how Dennis had helped us redesign loading schedules.

Marjorie asked whether we had thought about hiring more people returning to the workforce after long caregiving breaks.

It was a useful question.

I wrote it down.

Later, while I helped Helen wash dishes, she said she was glad I had come.

“I worried you’d feel you had to give up me along with him,” she admitted.