My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

“Sometimes.

But he has people who love him and visit.”

She thought about that.

“Then when I grow up, can I have a house near yours?”

“If you want one.”

“And if I live far away?”

“I’ll still love you.”

“And if I’m a scientist on the moon?”