Then I settled into my chair, opened a book and discovered I could enjoy a new place without needing her beside me.

That independence was important.

Our reunion would not be healthy if we became afraid to spend an afternoon apart.

Late that summer, a parent at the literacy center asked whether the newspaper story about the ring was true.

I told her the essential facts and left the dispute out of it.

She seemed disappointed that there hadn’t been a dramatic confrontation at the supermarket.

“The exciting part,” I said, “was finding my sister.”