Fourteen months between jobs and I finally have an answer for the gap that isn't a whispered apology

Layoff, then a stretch of caregiving I hadn't planned for, then a slow restart. For the first six months back on the market I'd bring up the gap before anyone asked and over-explain it like I owed a full deposition. Somewhere around interview thirty I started just saying "I stepped away for a family situation, I'm back and focused now" and moving straight into the next question. Nobody has pushed on it since. The over-explaining was doing more damage than the gap itself ever did.