“In the silence that followed, Desdemona felt a strange emotion rising inside her. It spread in the space between her panic and grief–she recognized the emotion; it was happiness. Tears were running down her face and she was already berating God for taking her husband from her but on the other side of these proper emotions was an altogether improper relief. The worst had happened. That was it: the worst thing. For the first time in her life, my grandmother had nothing to worry about.”