Children laughing.
Parents talking.
A teenage volunteer reading to Sophie.
Linda pouring coffee.
Officer Reeves carrying boxes into the pantry.
Marcus eating a grilled-cheese sandwich beside Caleb.
At one point I sat across from Walter.
“You okay?”
He nodded.
Then shook his head.
Then smiled.
“I keep thinking about Ellie.”
“She would have liked this.”
“She would have run this place.”
I laughed.
“You think?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
He looked toward the wall.
We had framed the old photograph.
Ellie.
Six years old.
Red dress.
Huge smile.
Underneath it was another photograph.
Sophie at two.
Red dress.
Hands holding her skirt.
Caleb laughing beside her.
Walter looked at both.
“For years I kept that first photograph because it reminded me of my worst mistake.”
I waited.
“Now it reminds me that your worst moment doesn’t have to be the last useful thing you do.”
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
