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The folding chairs were still stacked against the wall when I walked into the community center that afternoon, carrying a simple rectangular cake wrapped in

The community center kitchen was louder than usual that afternoon, filled with the clatter of bowls and quiet laughter that bounced off the tiled walls.

The church hall had that familiar hum of voices, the kind that carries easily across folding tables and paper tablecloths. It was a spring fundraiser,

The folding table in the school courtyard wobbled slightly as I set down a tray of mismatched plates. It was one of those late spring

The train ride home had been longer than expected, slowed by a stretch of rain that blurred the windows into soft streaks of gray. Across