While we were hesitating about Chicago, Mel informed us that hospitality and retail were no longer ‘viable career options’ for her, which left only the escort agency. The upmarket, progressive branch had folded due to client dissatisfaction, so Mel would be working at the special-offer, old-timey branch where everything was allowed. The following day, we agreed to fund her studies in the States. As she pointed out, she could have chosen a school in New York or California, but she’d picked Chicago so that she could live with her aunt and spare us the cost of housing. When everything is weighed in the balance, Mel has grown up to be a deeply thoughtful young woman, as her decision to wear latex shows. Chanel and I are so proud of the way our daughter shows consideration for others without sacrificing focus on her goals.

At Christmas, we offered Mel a ticket home for the holidays. She said, ‘What am I going to tell my friends? I set up new social media accounts when I got here, remember? Most people don’t even know I’m from Melbourne – I sort of let them think I grew up in New Zealand or something. Being Australian is so, like, shameful. Everyone just assumes you’re a racist, Islamophobic climate vandal and coffee snob. I suck up filter by the gallon here and don’t say a thing in case I’m, like, outed.’

‘Can’t you tell your friends that you’ll be spending Christmas in New Zealand?’

‘Da-ad! We don’t lie to each other in my friendship group. Also, like, Insta?’

That conversation put a dent in Chanel’s – what should I call it? Her faith in progress? Her confidence in her vision board? A moody abstraction would settle on her at times. It first appeared about a month after Mel’s call. Early one Sunday I took Chanel a cup of tea, expecting to find her getting ready for boxercise. She was still in bed. Rain was banging on the roof, the tail end of the Severe Weather Event that flattened Brisbane. Chanel spoke to the ceiling. ‘Do you think we made a mistake? Do you think we should have migrated to the States instead?’

I can’t overstate the weight of her question. Even to hint that we might have erred in our judgment tears at the soul. Everything we abandoned, all the struggles we’ve faced, the colossal effort, renewed every day, to be ordinary Australians – if we should have aimed to be ordinary Americans instead, we’ve thrown our lives away. A rushing black river opened at my feet, and I clutched Chanel’s hand. Our children’s assessment of Australia did nothing to help. ‘Loserland’: Mel. ‘Pariah on the global scene’: Sydney. Add to that the lurching of our economy as one country after another applied sanctions over our climate no-policy – there was crazy talk of even Russia following suit.

‘We were totally right to come here,’ I said firmly. ‘Look at everything we’ve achieved: elite futures for our children, healthy superannuation balances, a stack of frequent flyer points, a really spacious garage …’