“I want to decide what this room becomes after I’m strong enough to walk through it without crying.”

He did not tell me that day would arrive soon.

He simply nodded and brought me a cup of tea.

PART 13

Judith came to the front gate on a Tuesday morning with a large floral arrangement and a baby blanket still wrapped in tissue paper.

The security system notified me before she rang the bell.

I hadn’t thought of the gate as protection until that moment.

She called my phone.