Malik worked with architects to verify accessibility requirements and renovate safely.

There were delays, zoning questions, and more expensive plumbing repairs than any of us had planned.

But the work felt grounded in the future, not in the past.

I sometimes drove past the property and thought of Brenda, still sorting out her life.

Then I went home and helped the twins wash their hands before dinner.

My duty was not to stand guard over someone else’s regret.