But I’ve learned something else too.
Staying is love.
Yet sometimes people love us and still fail us.
Sometimes people make terrible decisions while believing they’re protecting us.
Understanding that doesn’t require pretending the damage never happened.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying, It was okay.
Sometimes forgiveness simply means saying:
What happened hurt me.
I wish you had chosen differently.
But I no longer want that pain to control every day that comes next.
Leo understands that better than I do.
A few days ago, I asked him whether he was glad he read the letter.
He thought about it.
Then he said:
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because before, I had a question with no answer.”
“And now?”
He smiled.
“Now I have an answer with a lot of questions.”
That sounds exactly like adulthood to me.
Goldi comes to bowling on Tuesdays now.
She hasn’t missed one.
Leo still calls her Goldi most of the time.
Once, accidentally, he called her Mom.
Everyone heard it.
