PART 8
Five Years Later
Every Sunday, three generations gathered in the garden behind the restored apartment building.
Little Grace chased butterflies.
Sophie laughed as she followed behind.
Grant grilled hamburgers terribly.
Maria pretended not to notice.
Residents from the building often joined them.
Nobody cared who had money anymore.
They cared who stayed.
One afternoon Grace climbed into Maria's lap holding the old blue blanket.
"Grandma?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Why is this blanket so special?"
Maria looked across the garden.
Grant smiled at her.
She smiled back.
Then answered.
"Because one day..."
"...it helped your daddy find his way home."
Grace thought very seriously.
Then wrapped the blanket around both of them.
"So nobody gets lost again."
Maria kissed the little girl's forehead.
"No."
"Never again."
She looked toward her son.
Toward the family she thought she had lost forever.
Then toward the apartment window where rain had once fallen on the loneliest day of her life.
She finally understood something.
Time cannot be returned.
Childhood cannot be relived.
Some wounds never completely disappear.
But love...
Real love...
Never stops waiting.
And sometimes...
After thirty-eight long years...
May you like
It still finds the courage to knock on the front door one more time.
The End.
