Over the next three weeks, I read through Lily's letters systematically, following her instructions about when each should be opened. Hope stayed with me, helping to organize them chronologically and thematically.

"This one is marked 'Read when you doubt your choices,'" Hope said, handing me another envelope.

I'd read versions of that doubt a hundred times over the years. But reading Lily's words, written decades ago, addressing fears I hadn't even known I'd have – it was ...