We could work on boundaries without pretending that everyone who cared about me was trying to control me.

I learned to say, “I don’t need advice about that today,” and then say, “I do need help with this,” without treating the two sentences as contradictory.

Mom learned to ask before phoning someone on my behalf.

Occasionally.

Life became boring again in uneven stages.

Saturday groceries.

Washing that needed folding.

Lily objecting to vegetables as though I had invented them to spoil her evening.