But watching Mark learn ordinary parenting skills, slowly and imperfectly, reminded me that change doesn’t always arrive with an apology.

Sometimes it arrives with a workbook, a pencil, and the willingness to be taught.

PART 23

For our first holiday season after the divorce, I invited my sister, two friends, and a neighbor from downstairs for dinner.

The apartment was so small we had to borrow folding chairs from the bakery.

Tommy made place cards and spelled my coworker’s name incorrectly, then insisted the mistake gave the card character.

Mark was scheduled to spend part of the following day with Tommy.