Cassandra

The self-awareness in Samantha's words impressed me.

Many people would have needed to spend years in therapy trying to articulate what she had just laid out so clearly. She understood the things that had shaped her, understood the unintended harm that could sometimes come from overprotection, and she understood her own role in creating her isolation.

"This character you mentioned," I said. "Do you really want to change it?"

"I don't know if I can," Samantha admitted. "It's been too ...