My husband files for divorce, and my 6-year old son asks the judge: ‘May I show you something that Mom doesn’t know about, Your Honor?’ The judge nodded. When the video started, the entire courtroom froze in silence.

I stopped in the hallway, listening.

For a moment I thought of Julian singing the same tune years before and felt the familiar ache of loving something that had ended.

Then Noah changed the words to make them about our dog, and I laughed aloud.

He called, “Mom, are you there?”

“Right here,” I answered.

And I was.

PART 28

Almost a year after the hearing, Noah brought the camera to the kitchen table.