When I Was Four, My Mother Left Me Alone in a Church—Twenty Years Later She Returned Crying, “We Need You”

“Why?”

I smiled.

“Because we’re still figuring each other out.”

She considered.

“Can I call you Nora?”

“Perfect.”

PART 50 — WHAT SHE KNOWS

We had agreed beforehand on the explanation.

I was her father’s sister.

We had not known each other for a long time.