“You will be alright without me, right?” I asked Marcel one last time, even though he had given me the answer more than three times already.

In my defence, this was my first time leaving Ocean's side for the weekend since we returned to the States. Marcel told me he would care for his grandson while I was gone. I believed him, but a tiny part of me felt uncertain. When I became a mother, my needs and desires became secondary compared to those of my son, and this would be the first time I’d put myself first. Marcel encouraged it, though, and advised me to do it often. He...