I decide when the lights go out.

The first time I spent an entire rainy afternoon reading there, I looked up at the clock and realized nobody had called to ask where dinner was.

That may sound like a small freedom to someone who has always possessed it.

To me, it felt like the whole world opening.

I have thought often about the morning Colin opened the certified envelope.

I remember the steam rising from my coffee, the way Jessica folded the pages into sharp creases, and the fearful expression that crossed my son’s face.