After Heart Surgery, I Woke Up to Learn My Three Children Had Gone Home Because Hospital Parking Was Too Expensive. I Lay There in Tears Until a Well-Dressed Stranger Entered,

I didn’t want to embarrass you. If you were doing well, I was going to send a letter. If you were struggling, I wanted to help without making a big thing of it.”

He tapped the folder.

“So the researcher did a little more looking. Public records, mostly. And a few conversations.”

“And?” I said.

He regarded me steadily.

“I know you live on a small pension from the school district and your Social Security,” he said. “About thirty-one hundred a month together.”

The figure was exact; I remained quiet.