It’s that some moments flash by while others come with a weird kind of pause, like graduations and weddings and other milestones. For those, it’s easy to prepare—waterproof mascara, tissues, a camera. But this one caught me off guard.

In that moment, I suddenly felt as though the thread that had hemmed generations of women together had somehow been tethered.

I’ve taken her question as nagging, but it’s not. She sees something I don’t, she wants what’s best for me, even 40 years on.

I want my daughter to know that only she has the power to define herself and her destiny, not others.