“And she sang wonderfully, no matter what she claimed.

I was her father because she let me be.

I’ll carry that gift for the rest of my life.”

He returned to his seat without trying to explain how a father could be so grateful and so devastated at once.

After the service, a volunteer from the hospital approached me.

She had worked on Hannah’s floor and brought a small envelope.

“We found this in the volunteer office,” she said.