But she understood, in the way children understand the important things without being told, that we were saving up to do something for her mother, and that it mattered, and that she was part of it.

I have thought many times that the trip was really hers as much as Ayana’s.

A little girl saving pennies to carry her mama home.

There is nothing I have done in a uniform that made me prouder than that can on top of the refrigerator.

Chapter 4 — Ten Minutes

When we finally boarded, when she saw those wide leather seats and whispered, “Daddy, are these really ours?” — something in me loosened for the first time in months.