We exchanged tips, laughed at our mistakes, and occasionally helped each other carry bags to the parking lot.

For the first time since the babies were born, I had a circle of people who knew me as Jenna rather than as Brandon’s wife.

That distinction mattered more than I’d expected.

One afternoon Jo offered to watch the girls while I went to a dental appointment.

I protested that it was too much.

She looked at me as though I’d announced that brushing my teeth was selfish.

“You’ve got two hands,” she said.