I looked around at our table, crowded with paper plates and laughing people, and realized how different this was from the dinner table where the accusation began.

There was no perfect family photograph.

Margo had a late shift the next morning.

Simone had homework.

Colleen had invoices piled up at the print shop.

We were ordinary people with problems and schedules.

But when I asked someone to pass the water, they passed the water.

When I said I was tired, nobody called me dramatic.