“I’m not sure if Minji is referring to herself or to Charis. Yeah, no. I don’t ask her. But secretly, I pity her. She has lived out my mother’s worst fear: She has not had children. She has remained self-sufficient. She is alone. Even though my children have not brought me happiness in the ways that I expected, they have taught me all I know about the meaning of life. That is, I never question that their lives are meaningful. Not ever. That they should exist and thrive and inherit the earth, forever and ever, amen.”