“I regret not realizing sooner how important it was to ask for help and make boundaries clearer.

I don’t regret treating her wishes as worth listening to.

Those things can all be true.”

He nodded, looking thoughtful.

The conversation ended without either of us claiming to have solved something that deserved ongoing reflection.

Later, I spoke with a senior physician who had once mentored Chloe’s care team.

He asked how I was doing outside the clinic.

I told him about the center and the grant.