I began with ordinary examples, then surprised myself by remembering that I had stopped asking to visit certain friends because it always caused trouble afterward.

Carter could be charming for weeks at a time.

He could also make me feel as if a simple question were an accusation.

Neither version canceled the other.

I’d spent years trying to make them fit together.

When my mother brought lunch, she sat beside me and unwrapped two sandwiches.

“I should have noticed something,” she said.

I knew exactly where that sentence came from.