I told myself that some families we get without asking, while others we choose. And I chose those two. I think that’s what you’d call a silver lining.

I thought about having a proper room,breathing life into it, and nobody minding.

I smiled back and I thoughthow incredible that was, that they would find the time to smile. There was goodness in the world still, even if you couldn’t always see it.

Even when you’d lost everything you thought there was to lose, somebody came along and gave you something for free.

It's what you do when you grow up, apparently, face up to things you'd rather not and accept the fact that nobody is who you thought they were, maybe not even close.