For years I had imagined the day I’d see Brenda and Victor again as the ending of the story.

I expected them to understand what they’d lost, to apologize perfectly, to look at me and finally see a whole man.

When the day came, their words did not repair the past.

Their difficulties did not erase what they had done.

The legal document did not turn me into someone new.

I had become who I was through thousands of small choices long before I knocked on their door.