“We Wanted To Adopt Our Elderly Neighbor After His Wife Died. When I Handed Him The Papers On His Birthday, He Went Pale, Asked Me To Send My Five Kids Out Of The Room, And Said, ‘I Need To Confess Something. I Knew You Lived Next Door When I Bought That House.’”

five kids — always a shoe missing, someone yelling from upstairs, something sticky on the counter. Walter started coming around when the kids played outside. Soon he was pitching balls, fixing a loose bicycle chain, drinking coffee at our kitchen table. Eventually I stopped inviting him to dinner, because inviting him implied there was a chance he continue reading …