And my mother lifted her head, and gave me a small, unbearably tender smile, and said the thing I will hear in her voice for the rest of my life.

“That’s why I came, Laura.”

Chapter 10 — That’s Why I Came

It took me a moment to understand her, and when I did, it rearranged everything I thought I knew about the last six months.

“When you called me six months ago,” she explained gently, “crying, telling me you couldn’t find childcare and your career was falling apart — I had already been through my first surgery.

I already had the colostomy.