Binkie had no children. I didn-t know her well enough to know why. She lived with her husband two buildings away; we-d meet them at parties, make small talk. She was in her 40s, dignified and understated, but an empath, warm and good-natured in conversation. I didn-t know that she wanted to adopt a baby until she told me one day. It was some year in the late 1980s.

Back then, if you wanted to adopt a child, you found an agency that took care of orphans and abandoned or surrendered infants. You registered with them and once you completed the paperwork, they-d send a social worker to conduct a home visit to evaluate the home you would give the child. Shortly, you would be invited to view some babies.