Speeches would have meant nothing; he had heard speeches.

Instead I simply left room for him everywhere, quietly and without comment — put the extra food on his plate before he could decline it, left his shoes where he dropped them without a word on the rare day he forgot, let the house slowly fill up with evidence that he was allowed to take up space here.

You cannot talk a child into believing he is home.

You can only keep being home, patiently, until he stops bracing and looks up one day and finds that he already is.