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

“What does that mean?”

“It means her return would tell you she returned.”

I frowned.

“It would not automatically mean you owe her love, trust, forgiveness, dinner, or a bedroom.”

That sounded strange to a ten-year-old.

Years later, it became one of the most useful sentences anyone ever gave me.

PART 9 — MY LIFE AT TWENTY-FOUR

I earned a scholarship to a small Catholic college.

Majored in social work.