It did not hold a plan.

At twenty-four, I had already spent most of my life learning how to begin again in someone else’s room.

Foster placements.

Group homes.

Temporary beds beside bags I did not fully unpack.

I had learned that being easy to look after could help a person stay longer.

When I married Patrick Sterling, I thought I had finally found a place where I would not need that lesson.

I was a junior copywriter then.