Ella’s voice crackled over the phone. “And, John, please- when you get a chance- look over the papers.”

John’s voice dropped as he looked up and down the hallway, instinctively making sure no one else had heard even though her voice was confined to his ear. “I know, I’m sorry, I meant to look at them, it’s just… work.” A pause on the other end of the line. He could hear the stifled sigh.

“I get...

“Remember, baby, I’m only a call away.” When her mother had closed the door of the new dormitory behind her as she left, tears in both of their eyes, it had been true.

And she had called. Nearly every night at first, video calls and audio alike, just to hear how her day had been. The grocery trips, the family gatherings, the desserts baked.

The phone calls always ended the same: “I’ll talk to ...