But there would be more drawings, ordinary breakfasts, hard questions, school shows, and afternoons when rain changed our plans.

There would be things worth learning and apologies worth making.

I knelt beside Willa and asked whether she would show me how to draw Captain Buttons properly.

She handed me an orange crayon, gently corrected my first attempt, and smiled when I tried again.

For most of my adult life I had believed determination could solve almost any problem.

I finally understood that the people I loved were not problems to solve.

They were people to know, patiently, in all the time we still had.

And when Willa reached for my hand as we walked out of the museum, I knew exactly where I needed to be.