I hadn’t seen my family in five months, so I flew from San Diego to Newark for Christmas. The trip, which should have ended in a mid-afternoon landing, was delayed for eight hours and dragged on until well after midnight. My parents pulled up in my mother’s new SUV, their faces tired but brightening when they saw me. We drove the hour south to the house by the beach, the roads empty, the world quiet. The next morning, after breakfast at a local diner, we sat in their living room, letting the