“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.

video call. I didn’t want to make Ethan and Lucy watch us do it either. We talked about their week. Lucy held up a drawing, and Daniel moved the camera so I could see the whole page.

Ethan wanted me to turn the laptop toward the garden. I showed him the plants near the veranda and told him I was still learning their names. Lucy asked how long a plane had to fly to reach me. I answered as best I could and promised to send a postcard, which I