At 3 A.M., My Brother Dragged Me Out of My Bedroom While Dad Laughed—He Had No Idea What the Smoke Detector Had Recorded
A chipped mug.
Receipts.
Notebooks.
Chargers.
Small objects I’d carried through different periods of my life because they reminded me of people or places I didn’t want to forget.
Now I was trying to decide what to take in two cardboard boxes.
Ruth had advised me not to return alone.
We arranged for support while I retrieved essential possessions and documented anything disputed.