By the time I reached our driveway in Society Hill that Tuesday night, the Philadelphia sky had already dissolved into the color of wet slate. The city in late October had a peculiar way of making every glowing window look like a sanctuary I could not quite reach.

I sat in my car with my hands gripping the steering wheel and allowed myself exactly six seconds of silence before facing the house. That was all the time I permitted myself to be tired before I stepped into the role of the woman who held everything together.