Others thanked me.

One woman wrote that she had left a family business after years of being told she would never manage anything without her father.

She had opened a small bakery.

Another described going back to school at forty-five.

I printed those two messages and pinned them beside my desk.

Marlene sent an angry email through an old address, claiming my statement had humiliated the family.

I forwarded it to Nora and did not respond.