Laura nodded through tears.
That lesson was meant for me too.
I had spent years explaining the past to myself.
If I had called more often.
If I had ignored Mom when she told me not to come home.
If I had noticed something sooner.
If I had been a better son.
Every imagined version ended with me somehow rescuing her.
But my mother had known exactly who I was.
She knew that if she told me the full truth, I would drop everything.
She also knew I would spend the rest of my life blaming myself if I arrived too late.
So she had left me something stronger than an explanation.
She had left forgiveness.
I just hadn’t received it until Susan decided I was finally ready.
The following evening, nine o’clock came again.
I entered Susan’s room with her medicine and sat in the wooden chair.
