My daughter-in-law laughed as she gave me a $2 scratch-off for my 73rd birthday. Ten months later, my own son shoved a senior living brochure in front of me and said, “We already picked your room.” They thought I was too old to fight back. They had no idea what I had been hiding.

I climbed into Helen’s car.

As we pulled away, I looked back once at the limestone house and its beautiful oak tree.

For the first time in four years, I did not wonder whether dinner would be ready on time.

PART 6

Helen lived in a modest bungalow with blue shutters and a garden that smelled of rosemary.

The guest bedroom was small, with a quilt her mother had stitched and a window facing the street.

I slept nearly ten hours that first night.