I looked around at their exhausted faces and recognized something I’d been carrying without naming.

For months I’d thought everyone else was coping more gracefully than I was.

Yet every mother in that room had a secret fear, an unanswered question, or a moment when she wished somebody would show up and help.

After the session, a woman named Nina asked if I wanted to join a local parents’ group.

I told her I was separated and had twins.

She shrugged.