They would like one party.”

What we did instead was her idea and it took eleven minutes and cost nothing.

On each of the next six birthdays, at some point in the day, out of everybody’s way, she tells me one thing about the corresponding year.

One thing, from her, that only she has.

What Maya said the first time she talked.

What Nora did at eighteen months that made a neighbour laugh for a week.

The night both of them had the same virus and she was on shift.