“I wish your father all the best with his new wife and baby,” said Harriet. “He’s a decent man and he deserves happiness.”

And there’s my plug for divorced mother of the year, she thought.

Turning, she pulled a long knife from the wooden block and began to sharpen it.

Susan Wackerbarth teaches creative writing at the University of Hawaii Hilo. At home, she shares space with goats, chickens and the occasional mongoose.