“My house, my rules,” my daughter-in-law said as she took back the spare key, expecting me to stay with the children while she and my son went away for the weekend.

habits to change. At the grocery store I caught myself buying the crackers Ethan liked. I put the box back, not because I’d never see him again, but because my cart no longer had to supply another family’s kitchen every week. I checked the balance in my new account. It was small. So had been each of the purchases that added up to $600.

For a while Daniel and I spoke less. When we did, I asked after the children, and he told me about school and soccer. I didn’t