Brenda arrived alone, carrying a notebook.

I noticed that she seemed nervous.

The mediator asked each of us to describe our concerns without interrupting.

Brenda began by saying she regretted what she’d done and missed the girls.

When asked what she knew about their current lives, she hesitated.

She remembered they were twins and that their birthdays fell in spring, but she did not know their teachers’ names, their favorite foods, or which one needed glasses for reading picture books.