I walked in with my heart open and my hands empty… exactly as instructed.
That’s when I noticed.
Every woman at the party had brought something.
There was a cherry cobbler on the dessert table, baked beans in a crockpot, star-spangled cupcakes arranged like a flag. Even Sandra, who burns water, had made a patriotic pasta salad.
I stood there, gripping my little bag of toys like it was a lifeline, suddenly feeling more like an outsider than family.
Then Karen spotted me.
