And with every lock that turned and every system that changed hands, I felt the house come back, quietly, from the people who had stolen it, into the hands of the woman it had always belonged to.

I have been asked whether it felt good, that part, the locks and the security and the systems all turning over to me one by one, and the honest answer is that it did not feel like the movies suggest it should.

It did not feel like winning.

It felt like closing wounds.

Each lock re-keyed was one more door through which they could never again reach my mother.

Each camera and alert rerouted to my phone was one more way I would know, instantly, if anyone tried.