When She was Mine

My daughter left home early on the morning of Wednesday, 25^th April, 2007 and returned on Saturday, 28^th April, 2007 at approximately 9:00 p.m. Before she called on Thursday evening to inform me of her whereabouts, her mother had already given me the news, which she had obtained in the afternoon from our daughter’s same-age friend, at whose parents’ house our daughter had taken up temporary residence. My wife had sounded sternly triumphant when she broke the news—as though she had just accomplished an unparalleled feat that had brought her no joy.