For months, my daughter had been the person in the bed, the person others discussed outside the door.

But here, in the privacy of her own handwriting, she was also a young woman making decisions, teasing a friend, thinking about another family, and telling her parents how to carry on.

I held the letter and cried until there were no words left to say.

PART 5: The Promise Kenneth Made

The chapel door opened quietly sometime later.

Kenneth stood in the doorway.

He didn’t approach me until I lifted my eyes and nodded.