There were birthdays when I wanted someone else to make decisions because I was so tired of making them.

But loneliness was not the whole story.

We had neighborhood friends.

We had Aunt Ruth.

We had Brenda and Celeste and teachers who noticed when the children were struggling.

We had evenings when all four slept on the living-room floor beneath a blanket fort because no one wanted to move.

The most important people in my life had not arrived in a helicopter.

They had arrived with groceries, patience, rides to appointments, and a willingness to show up on ordinary Tuesdays.