One parent introduced her spouse, another arrived with a grandparent, and a third came alone with two kids and a tray of cookies.

Mabel watched everyone set food on the table and asked why there were so many different kinds of families.

I explained that families were the people who loved and cared for one another, and that homes didn’t all look the same.

She considered this seriously.

‘So we’re not missing a person?’ she asked.

I felt a sting of grief for the future I’d imagined, but I answered the question she actually asked.