But I chose the house.

And a mother remembers choosing the house.

Chapter 3 — The Polar Plunge

That evening, without much warning, an unseasonable cold front dropped down over the city.

The forecasters called it a polar plunge.

It brought freezing rain, and biting wind, and a sudden brutal collapse of the temperature, the kind of Chicago cold that turns dangerous fast.

For most of the city it was an inconvenience, a night to stay indoors, to turn the heat up, to be grateful for a roof.

People hurried from their cars to their front doors with their collars up.