MY HUSBAND SHOOK ME AWAKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT—“GET UP, BACKYARD, NOW!”

the sentence was read, he finally spoke to me.

“I did it for us,” he said quietly as the marshals waited.

“No,” I replied. “You did it despite us.”

I left the courthouse holding my children’s hands, the sun warm on our faces. Ordinary. Peaceful.

That night, as I tucked Emma into bed, she asked, “Mommy, are the bushes scary?”

I smiled softly. “No, sweetheart.continue reading …