I probably always would.

But I no longer treated their approval as the door I needed to pass through to reach my own life.

That door had been open all along.

I had simply needed someone to remind me I could walk through it.

PART 22

On our first wedding anniversary, Marcus drove us back to the converted stone barn.

There was no ceremony that day, only an afternoon open house for couples who had married there.

The maple leaves were turning gold again.