I don’t know why I thought I could do this. Drive into the city during rush hour? What was I thinking? I should never have canceled my car service. Does this meeting really need to start at 5:30 and not seven, once the roads have calmed down? My son’s partner—he keeps reminding me I’m supposed to say partner—Orla, attends meetings with brash women and, well, they invited me to join them.

It felt like such a pity invite when they first told me to ...