I was tired, but the tiredness felt different.

The work was difficult because I had chosen it, not because I was afraid to ask what else might be possible.

PART 12

One afternoon, Denise called from the grocery store and asked if we could talk.

I worried that I’d missed a shift or left somebody struggling with inventory, but she simply wanted to know how long I planned to keep working part-time.

“I need to write the summer schedule,” she said.