“Get them ready for school.”

Then he went outside.

The boys stayed near the doorway until I told them where their clothes and lunches were.

It seemed absurd that I could still remember which bag had the apple without skin and which had the extra sandwich.

At 7:31, I stood in the driveway while Daniel arranged his belongings in the trunk of the 2009 Buick.

It had almost 190,000 miles on it, and the dashboard was cracked at one corner.