They were being asked to take on a stranger.

I was about to discover that I was being asked to take in my own blood.

It is a great deal easier to be brave when the child in your arms turns out to be your sister’s daughter.

I have never been sure I would have found the courage on a stranger’s behalf, and I try to remember that whenever I am tempted to feel superior to the nineteen who said no before me.

I asked him instead how long she had been waiting.