Afterward, I held the phone without putting it down.

The room had not changed, but I felt as though I had been sent back into it.

I had always been the family member who could sort things out.

If a delivery failed, I called.

If a booking changed, I found another.

When Dad misplaced something important, I searched the places he said he had already checked.

I liked being useful.

I had not understood how easily usefulness could become an excuse for other people to assume I needed nothing.