She thanked us for the application workshop and said she had never understood the difference between grants and loans until someone explained it without making her feel foolish.

“You didn’t save my family,” she said.

“You helped us figure out what to ask.”

I carried those words home.

That evening, Gavin came by to return a notebook Selena had left in his car.

He asked how the event had gone.

I gave him a printed program and told him several students had received offers.

“I wish I’d been there,” he said.